A WWII-era bomb exploded underneath a busy Japanese airport on Wednesday, causing a crater in a taxiway and leading to flight cancellations.
Officials from the Land and Transport Ministry reported that no aircraft were in the vicinity when the bomb detonated at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.
Per CBS News, officials announced that an investigation by the Self-Defense Forces and police confirmed a buried 500-pound U.S. bomb caused the explosion. They added that there is no ongoing danger. They are now looking into the factors that led to its unexpected detonation.
Footage captured by a nearby aviation school revealed the explosion hurling chunks of asphalt into the air like a geyser.
A WWII bomb exploded in Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan today.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 2, 2024
The 227 kg bomb formed a crater 7 meters wide and one meter deep.
No one was injured but 80 flights were canceled.
It got me thinking for how many decades to come we will be finding bombs in Ukraine… pic.twitter.com/2yJ1xVkYCF
Meanwhile, videos aired on Japanese television revealed a crater on the taxiway. It reportedly measured approximately 7 yards in diameter and 3 feet deep.
“There is no threat of a second explosion, and police and firefighters are currently examining the scene,” Hayashi explained.
The Site of the WWII Era Bomb Explosion Wasn’t Always a Civilian Airport
Of course, the explosion site was not always a civilian area. Miyazaki Airport was established in 1943. It originally served as a flight training field for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Some kamikaze pilots launched their suicide missions from the site.
Defense Ministry officials reported that several unexploded bombs dropped by the U.S. military during World War II have been discovered in the area. Unexploded ordnance dropped by the United States was reportedly discovered at a nearby construction site in both 2009 and 2011.
Hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from the war remain buried throughout Japan and are sometimes discovered at construction sites. According to the Self-Defense Force, 2,348 bombs weighing 41 tons were disposed of in 2023.
Earlier this week, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force safely detonated and disposed of a World War II-era bomb found at a construction site in Naha, located in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture, according to a report by Stars and Stripes.
Japanese officials estimate that approximately 2,000 tons of unexploded ordnance may still be present on the island of Okinawa alone.