Thousands evacuated due to subsidence

The bottom of a house sinks in a suburban village of Liuzhou city, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, May 10, 2012. About 40,000 square kilometers of ground collapsed in Maohe village on Thursday, toppling several houses and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,700 people. [Photo/Xinhua]

A house collapses in a suburban village of Liuzhou city, May 10, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Around 2,000 people were evacuated due to karst ground subsidence in southern China's Liuzhou city on Thursday, with no injuries reported so far.

Six houses located in Liunan district of Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were damaged due to the incident on Thursday morning, according to gxnews.com.cn, the website of the Guangxi Daily Media Group.

The damaged area was more than 40,000 square meters by 5pm on Thursday. However, experts said the area affected by the subsidence would expand.

According to Zhao Yunhui, deputy chief engineer of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region geographical environmental monitoring station, the subsidence was due to the sinking of soil as the seasons change.

The local government has set up a disaster relief headquarter to assist the victims.