What is the cause of this: It seems to be a uniform sinking of the whole building?

Tenants of high-rise apartment move out in panic after building begins to sink – PHOTOS

Thank God people got out before it collapsed.

Is there any way that this building is savable or must it all be demolished?

The owner must be the most stressed, poorest millionaire in town!

What is the cause of this: It seems to be a uniform sinking of the whole building?

Tenants of high-rise apartment move out in panic after building begins to sink – PHOTOS

Thank God people got out before it collapsed.

Is there any way that this building is savable or must it all be demolished?

The owner must be the most stressed, poorest millionaire in town! And some people had purchased apartments there, wuuuuuuuuiiiiii!!!

What is a "Sinkhole"?

A sinkhole is an area of ground that has no natural external surface drainage--when it rains, all of the water stays inside the sinkhole and typically drains into the subsurface. Sinkholes can vary from a few feet to hundreds of acres and from less than 1 to more than 100 feet deep. Some are shaped like shallow bowls or saucers whereas others have vertical walls; some hold water and form natural ponds.

Typically, sinkholes form so slowly that little change is noticeable, but they can form suddenly when a collapse occurs. Such a collapse can have a dramatic effect if it occurs in an urban setting.

New sinkholes have been correlated to land-use practices, especially from groundwater pumping and from construction and development practices. Sinkholes can also form when natural water-drainage patterns are changed and new water-diversion systems are developed. Some sinkholes form when the land surface is changed, such as when industrial and runoff-storage ponds are created. The substantial weight of the new material can trigger an underground collapse of supporting material, thus causing a sinkhole.

The overburden sediments that cover buried cavities in the aquifer systems are delicately balanced by groundwater fluid pressure. The water below ground is actually helping to keep the surface soil in place. Groundwater pumping for urban water supply and for irrigation can produce new sinkholes In sinkhole-prone areas. If pumping results in a lowering of groundwater levels, then underground structural failure, and thus, sinkholes, can occur.