Large sinkholes appeared in some provinces over the weekend, touching off earthquake rumors that were quickly denied by experts, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported Sunday.

Craters of different diameters and depths resulted after a build-up of underground water caused the ground to collapse. The giant sinkholes appeared in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Zhejiang Province.

In Chengdu, two sinkholes appeared in two different counties, frightening survivors of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake who mistook the cave-ins as warnings of another quake.

The monitoring station of geological environment in Chengdu told the newspaper that the sinkholes were caused by groundwater drainage and drilling.

The paper reported that both were normal geological phenomena and not related to earthquakes.

Part of a highway in Zhejing Province sank into the ground last Saturday. The crater, with a diameter of 8.3 meters and depth of six meters, occupied major lanes and caused traffic jams but no accidents.

Experts told the paper that the sinkhole was likely caused by deeper karst caves, or dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock underneath, but details needed to be investigated and ana-lyzed.

The ground collapsed in four sinkholes that appeared in Laibin, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Cracks appeared in a local dam, forcing local authorities to release water and avoid possible dangers.

Some villagers were also evacuated to safety.

"As far as I know, Guangxi in previous months was suffering heavy drought. It's possible that excess water drainage caused the craters," Luo Tao, an engineer at the Chinese Academy of Science, told the Global Times.

He explained that excessive groundwater drainage could cause the structure of the earth's crust to give way, along with a sudden shift in the movement of underground rock.

"Some experts say that the global crustal plates movement has entered a quite vivid period."

"In this sense, it is possible for China to be affected. Yet these holes seem to have formed for various reasons," he said.

Early on April 27, Yibin in Sichuan Province witnessed a series of sudden sinkholes, which grew in number to 43 by May 20, the largest crater measuring 60 meters in diameter.

The phenomena were later attributed to a sudden drop in the groundwater level.

A bulldozer works at a damaged road in Qiaogong Village, Xingbin District of Laibin City, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, June 5, 2010. Heavy rain and subsequent floods and landslides had hit 42 counties in nine cities in Guangxi, cutting off a total of 113 roads. After urgent repairs, 71 roads have been restored by Saturday. [Xinhua]

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2010)