A World War II bomb exploded from beneath an airport in Japan on Wednesday, canceling over 80 flights. The blast left a large crater on the taxiway, but remarkably, there were no aircraft nearby and no injuries were reported.
CBS News reports that the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan. Land and Transport Ministry officials said that an investigation found that the explosion was caused by a 500-pound U.S. bomb and that they were still determining what caused the sudden detonation. The airport, built in 1943, originally served as a Imperial Japanese Navy flight training field where kamikaze pilots launched their suicide missions.
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Video recorded from a nearly aviation school captured the moment the bomb exploded, sending pieces of asphalt flying into the air.
An explosion rocked the airport in #Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture. According to local media, one of the taxiways was damaged.
— Arthur Morgan (@ArthurM40330824) October 2, 2024
The reasons for the incident are still being determined; the next flights have been cancelled. pic.twitter.com/TTtJeF8BSF
Other images show the approximate size of the taxiway crater, which was reportedly over seven yards in diameter and about three feet deep.
Japan airport closed by explosion of U.S. bomb likely dating to World War II.
— Network Axis Group (@NetAxisGroup) October 2, 2024
The explosion caused a crater 23 feet wide and nearly 3 feet deep in the middle of the taxiway next to the runway at Miyazaki Airport, an official said. No injuries were reported. pic.twitter.com/Jmip3fvNlz
A fire department spokesman said that it had "received a call from the airport at 7:59 a.m. that there was an incident involving smoke."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that the airport hopes to resume operations on Thursday morning. "There is no threat of a second explosion, and police and firefighters are currently examining the scene," Hayashi stated.
Unexploded bombs in Japan are unfortunately fairly common, as hundreds of tons of explosives dropped by the U.S. military during World War II remain buried to this day. Often, they are dug up at construction sites. In the fiscal year of 2023 alone, 2,348 total bombs weighing 41 tons were disposed of in Japan.
