Just two weeks after a building toppled over in Shanghai, about 200 residents in Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province, say they fear being "buried alive" in a similar incident.

In an open letter to Jiamusi Communist party chief Lin Xiushan, mayor Li Haitao and the Construction Bureau, the residents say the foundation of their apartment block has developed cracks because of construction of an underground car garage next door.

The letter said that according to regulations underground construction must be no closer than nine meters from an existing building. However, this car garage was five meters away.