Mining subsidence causes more environmental damage than earthquakes

Mining subsidence causes a series of disastrous consequences, such as flat water, crop yield, road cracks, house collapse, etc., which is not only an important reason for the reduction of cultivated land, but also one of the bottlenecks restricting mine production. As far as environmental damage is concerned, the total loss of mine subsidence in China is greater than that of earthquake every year, which must be paid great attention to. It is necessary to vigorously carry out land reclamation, protect the ecological environment, and resolutely put an end to the vicious circle of first development and then management, so as to maintain the sustainable development of mining areas.

Generally speaking, the damage to environment caused by mining subsidence in China is more serious than that caused by earthquake

The rich land and beautiful homes that farmers depend on in mining areas (especially in coal mining areas) in China are often destroyed suddenly or gradually because of large surface collapse caused by large-scale underground mining. Since underground mining activities cannot be detected on the surface, the damage is often hidden and mysterious. For example, arable land has been reduced for unknown reasons; The water channel failed intermittently; An unexplained crack in a house; The well inexplicably dried up; Flat land irreversibly flooded and so on.

Do not think that these damage is only caused by the earthquake, but due to excessive underground mining caused by geological disasters. It is hard to believe that underground mining a few hundred meters deep can be so destructive to the surface, but this is the fact that many mines exist. With reference to the great flood in the summer of 1995 in southern Liaoning Province, a town in the affected area of a coal mining subsidence became a major disaster area because of the surface subsidence, people will realize the harm of mining subsidence more deeply.

The damage to the ecological environment may be slight or there may be damage, but it can be restored in a short time through normal farming and repair. For example, in the disaster areas of Xiuyan, Liaoning Province and Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, almost no trace of the earthquake can be seen one or two years after the earthquake. The mine subsidence area is different, decades have passed, still can see the shadow of the subsidence. Mining collapse causes many disastrous consequences, such as the destruction of cultivated land, orchards, forests, grasslands, surface water and groundwater, resulting in land wastage, desertification, salinization, and serious deterioration of mine ecological environment. Therefore, in terms of destroying the ecological environment of mining areas, the overall loss of mining geological subsidence disaster every year is no less than an earthquake or flood.

There are tens of thousands of mining enterprises in China, with a total annual mining volume of more than 2 billion tons. Among all kinds of minerals, coal accounts for the largest proportion of production. In all kinds of mines, underground mining is the most important way. According to the survey, the land collapse caused by underground mining per 10,000 tons of raw coal is between O.5-8 mu, with an average of 2-3 mu. According to the calculation of China's raw coal production, the land collapse caused by coal mining industry alone is up to 400,000 mu every year. According to incomplete statistics, the ground collapse area caused by the mining industry in China has reached 5 million to 6 million mu, of which 1.3 million mu of arable land, which is tantamount to worse for our country, which is already very scarce land resources.

The mining industry is also strong in the east and weak in the west, corresponding to the long-term existence of China's economic development. The eastern region is precisely densely covered with towns, villages and densely populated, so the disastrous consequences caused by ground collapse are more prominent. This economic pattern also determines that the eastern region is the worst disaster area for mine subsidence. Taking coal mining as an example, there are thousands of unified coal mines and local coal mines in China, accounting for about 70% in the eastern and central regions, and many towns in the eastern region have gradually developed based on coal mining industry, such as Jixi and Hegang. These towns have problems with mine subsidence. Huaibei mining area in central China, from the year of production to 2000, the total amount of farmland destroyed reached more than 100,000 mu, of which 38% of the perennial water. Due to historical reasons, many mining areas lack unified planning for above-ground cities, buildings and underground mining activities. Cities often develop freely around mines, and the surface of new and old mining areas continues to sink, resulting in continuous and serious damage to buildings and pipelines in above-ground towns. Many cities in the worst-hit areas have been relocated and re-invested in construction. Especially at present, China's coal mines adopt a technology called "fully mechanized caving and caving of top coal at one time full height", the thickness of the first mining is as high as 10-20 meters, the surface subsidence depth is also as high as 80%-90% of the mining thickness, and the land and buildings located in the subsidence area are all damaged, and the loss is more serious.