Watch: Massive sinkhole swallows street intersection in Japanese town
Fortunately for the citizens of Fukuoka, there were no casualties.
The southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka experienced a strange phenomenon. A huge sinkhole has swallowed major chunks of a road passing close to underground work meant for extending a subway tunnel.
Reports of a 7-to-8-meter-wide hole started showing up on Tuesday, according to a crisis management officer from the city.
Evacuations took place and precautions were taken as the sinkhole expanded further, acquiring much larger dimensions: 27 metres wide, 30 metres long and 15 metres deep. It is estimated that the construction work may have contributed to the hole, which led to breaks in power supply to approximately 170 homes in Fukuoka.
On social media, people erupted with all kinds of tongue-in-cheek responses.
Legend has it that if a sinkhole appears in Japan on the eve of a US presidential election there will be six more weeks of media frenzy
— Alisha （アリーシャ） (@ArishaInTokyo) November 8, 2016
Did I mention that hell is expanding? BBC News - Huge sinkhole swallows street in Fukuoka, Japan https://t.co/IYRp8sDCsa #HellExpanding
— Matthew S. Lawrence (@matty_lawrence) November 8, 2016
@CNN Japan is remarkable. The head of a giant Godzilla lurchong out of the sinkhole would give the image an added bonus.
— Ignacio Useli (@bachblues2) November 8, 2016
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.