Ground fissure hazards in USA and China

Tremendous losses were caused by ground fissure hazard both in USA and China. Six states of southwestern USA and seven provinces of central China were affected by the destructive ground fissures. The aseismic ground fissure hazards usually take place in land subsidence area. The comparison of the two countries' ground fissures were given including ground fissure formation, evolution, mechanics of destruction and countermeasures against them. The destructive ground fissures occurred about a half century earlier in USA than in China The mechanisms of various ground fissures were analyzed with interdisciplinary studies. It has been found that the preexisted faults are serving as the bases of forming modem ground fissure, and human activities, e.g. over pumping ground water, or oil, can accelerate the creeping of the fissures and make them destructive to many kinds of civil engineering. The countermeasures to mitigate ground fissure hazard were put forward, not only in science and technology but also in social administration. The successful practices in the two countries were introduced as examples.