Demolition crews work on Tuesday at a residential building in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, which was discovered to be sinking after residents moved in.

SHANGHAI - A leaning 18-story residential building built on reclaimed land was torn down on Wednesday in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, after one of its underground supporting pillars failed this month. 

Building No 17 was one of 14 apartment buildings of the Yuhui Blue Bay International Residential Community on reclaimed seaside land in Taizhou's Yuhuan county. 

An apartment owner in the building, who gave his surname as Zhan, said that the developer has agreed to build him a new apartment at the site and will cover the cost of the interior decorating, estimated at 400,000 yuan ($62,500).

"I bought the unit on the 16th floor because of the beautiful ocean view. It's such a pity I can't live in it," said Zhan. He moved out on Thursday, only 17 hours after moving in.

"I heard loud banging sounds like an explosion. It was really scary. And then we were told that a pillar in the foundation had cracked," he said.

Zhejiang Yuhui Real Estate Co, the developer, had called the compound "the biggest residential community with a perfect ocean view" in Taizhou. The company had already built a cluster of villas on the land and passed a national housing quality inspection in 2006.

An official from the Yuhuan county planning and construction bureau, who declined to give his name, said the bureau has engaged "several experts" to investigate the leaning building.

Some people have suggested the ground sank because the reclaimed land cannot support high-rises. Hu Zhizhong, an architectural researcher at Taizhou University, said reclaimed land commonly "settles unevenly", but the sinking in this building was so severe that it raised questions about the suitability of the land.

Zhan said he is not worried about the new apartment, which is scheduled for completion in 2013. "Buildings on reclaimed land are common in my city, I wouldn't worry about the safety issue," he said.

Apartments in Building No 17 in the Yuhui Blue Bay International Residential Community were selling for more than 5,000 yuan a square meter in 2009, long before construction was finished and the homes were turned over to buyers in January. 

The building was soon found to be constantly sinking, but local construction authorities said they had checked it several times and found the sinking was "within the normal range". When the sinking seemed to accelerate, the developer started to reinforce the building in September. In early November, one of the main supporting pillars broke. More than 200 households were evacuated.

Most of the displaced homeowners have reached an agreement with the developer. But residents of the other buildings in the compound are complaining about more problems. Residents of Building No 21 said that there are huge cracks in the outer walls and they are deeply concerned.

Zhejiang Reborn Inspection of Construction Engineering, based in Hangzhou, is inspecting the rest 13 buildings in the community. It has not yet reached any conclusions.

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