An unexploded World War II American bomb buried at a Japanese airport exploded on Wednesday, leaving a large crater on the runway and canceling more than 80 flights but causing no injuries, Japanese officials said.
Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no planes nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.
Officials said an investigation by self-defense forces and police confirmed the explosion was caused by a 500-pound American bomb and there was no other danger. They were investigating what caused its sudden detonation.
Video taken by a nearby flight school showed the blast spewing chunks of asphalt into the air like a fountain. Videos broadcast by Japanese television showed a crater in the taxiway said to be about 7 meters in diameter and 3 feet deep.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said more than 80 flights had been canceled at the airport and he hoped operations would resume Thursday morning.
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Miyazaki Airport was built in 1943 as a former Imperial Japanese Navy air training ground from which some kamikaze pilots launched suicide attacks.
Several unexploded bombs dropped by the U.S. military during World War II have been discovered in the area, Defense Department officials said.
Hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from the war remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up on construction sites.
