The Earth is like the Human Body, and Water, like the Blood in its Veins

A man at the site of what used to be a fertile farmland. The rift was one of the many created by over-mining of coal in Shanxi, China.

The earth there is sinking with underground coal mining from all sides; the once pristine river had run dry, and the wells rendered useless.

The villagers found themselves at high risk of being buried alive by the mounting coal waste (reportedly 50 stories high) if they did not abandon their homes soon.

This report was made in Jun 2006. I wonder what their fate had become...