A gigantic sinkhole has opened in the southwestern Japanese city of
Fukuoka, swallowing huge sections of road near underground work to
extend a subway tunnel.
A 7-to 8-meter-wide hole was first reported early Tuesday, according to
Motohisa Oda, a crisis management officer from the city of
Fukuoka.Nearby residents were evacuated, and five major roads cordoned
off in Hakata ward in Fukuoka's business district.
The gaping hole -- which started off as two smaller ones before merging
into the larger cavity -- appeared 300 meters from the JR Hakata railway
station,CNN reports.
The sinkhole is now a whopping 27 meters wide, 30 meters long and 15 meters deep.
It is filled with water that seeped in from sewage pipes destroyed by collapsing sections of road.
