More than eight hundred residents were relocated to safe ground Sunday after land subsidence caused by excessive mining struck a county in Jiangxi Province Thursday. No casualties were reported.

A house is sealed closed in Huichang county of Ganzhou city, Jiangxi Province, Dec 26. Land near a salt mine in Ganzhou subsided on Dec 23 forcing the evacuation of 823 villagers. The local government is monitoring the incident. [Photo/Xinhua]

Each of the 823 residents received 300 yuan ($45) as a living allowance. A salt mine two kilometers away from the subsidence area ceased operations Friday.

Underground water began to emerge from four separate spots around Thursday from farmland at a village in Zhoutian township, Huichang county in Ganzhou.

Land fissures about 500 meters long and 20-30 centimeters wide appeared in several places. Cracks also appeared in the walls of 84 houses.

A paddy field of about 80 square meters in area subsided in Shangli county in 2001, and a severe geological disaster struck Yudu county in 2004, causing the karst below to collapse, leaving a depression 2 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide.

Experts said excessive mining accelerated the land subsidence, and called for more preventive measures.

"Any disaster can occur if humans destroy nature without limit, so prevention should be made a priority instead of taking measures after accidents happen," Sun Keqin, a professor at the China University of Geosciences, told the Global Times Sunday.

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