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1,500-Meter Ground Crack Appears in Xi'an
A 1,500-meter-long ground crack, defined by geologists as a taphrogenic belt, has aroused concerns among the citizens in this capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
In Xiqu Village of the city's southern suburbs, where the crack was discovered, some villagers say the crack had appeared several days ago, and had become longer, wider and deeper after a heavy rain over the weekend. Now it is one meter wide at the extreme point and 1.2 to 1.3 meters deep on average.
Xu Congyi, an geological engineer here, said 12 cracks have been reported in the city so far, the first of which appeared in 1976, after a grave earthquake that hit north China's Hebei Province. Total length of these cracks have added up to over 70 kilometers, he said.
As the ground cracks zigzag across the city, they destroy farm land, houses and pipes that carry water and gas.
Experts here attributed the crack to drastic crustal movement and over-exploitation of underground water, as the thirsty city has been using large quantity of underground water since 1973.
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