Giant sinkhole devours Japanese street

A sinkhole devoured a substantial stretch of a Japanese street yesterday, sending stoplights and sidewalks tumbling more than 10 meters (33 ft) as the earth crumbled, snarling transport and disrupting power supply at an international airport.  Nobody was injured when the sinkhole opened with a boom before dawn in Fukuoka, but several multi-storey commercial buildings […]

A sinkhole devoured a substantial stretch of a Japanese street yesterday, sending stoplights and sidewalks tumbling more than 10 meters (33 ft) as the earth crumbled, snarling transport and disrupting power supply at an international airport.  Nobody was injured when the sinkhole opened with a boom before dawn in Fukuoka, but several multi-storey commercial buildings teetered dangerously at the edge of the abyss as it grew. By afternoon, the hole was 30 meters (98 ft) long and 15 meters (49 ft) deep, swallowing an entire four-lane intersection, and appeared to still be growing. Television footage showed burst water mains spewing a torrent of muddy water into the hole.

Photo: Reuters