Giant sinkholes appear across China

Dozens of sinkholes have emerged across in China in recent weeks, triggering fears of earthquakes.

Craters of different sizes have been seen in a vast area of land stretching across eastern and southern China's Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu and Guangxi province, state media reported.

In Ningxiang county in central Hunan Province, the toilet of a farmer's home collapsed, but nobody was injured, official Xinhua news agency reported.

Days earlier, a giant sinkhole swallowed up the entire playground of a primary school in the county.

Another hole with an 80m diameter opened up in the same county recently and families living nearby were soon evacuated from the dangerous areas.

Cheng Jie, a geological expert from the China University of Geoscience, said: "I think it is very unlikely that the sinkholes were caused by human activities. It is mainly a result of natural causes, like the sharp weather changes from extreme droughts to heavy rainstorms."