--- description: After the city of Fukuoka repaired a gaping hole that appeared earlier this month, the affected street just started sinking again. title: That Huge Japanese Sinkhole Is Still Sinking image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdff43b2a97fcbe61/6988afd9e20a876b02a93597/japan-sinkhole-sinking-again.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # That Huge Japanese Sinkhole Is Still Sinking  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 7:48 PM CUT  This combination of two photos show a Nov. 8, 2016 file photo, left, of a sinkhole on a road, and the road after restoration, in Fukuoka, southern Japan Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. This combination of two photos show a Nov. 8, 2016 file photo, left, of a sinkhole on a road, and the road after restoration, in Fukuoka, southern Japan Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016.AP—AP  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2016 7:48 PM CUT The Japanese city of Fukuoka [repaired a gaping sinkhole](http://time.com/4571934/japan-massive-sinkhole-fixed/ "undefined") that appeared earlier this month, but the affected street [just started sinking again](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/28/asia/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka/index.html "undefined"). Pavement [crumbled away suddenly](http://time.com/4562150/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka/ "undefined") in early November, leaving the 100-ft.-wide and more than 50-ft.-deep hole in the middle of a busy five-lane street. Within a week, the mayor of Fukuoka said repair crews had filled the hole with sand and repaired the damaged utilities and that the road was 30 times stronger than it had been before the hole. Over the weekend, though, people saw part of the road sink about 7 cm (2.7 in) at once, CNN reports. Traffic through the sinking area stopped on Saturday, though it has since reopened. Fukuoka mayor Soichiro Takashima [apologized in a Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/soichiro.takashima.33/posts/569669246576952 "undefined") for not warning residents that the street could sink slightly as the sinkhole filling settles, and added that the street may continue to sink a few more centimeters before the repair is fully compressed. CNN reports that city officials told them the movement was expected. \[[_CNN_](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/28/asia/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka/index.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4583531/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka-sinking-again/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4583531/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka-sinking-again/"},"headline":"That Huge Japanese Sinkhole Is Still Sinking","datePublished":"2016-11-28T19:48:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:00:30.182Z","description":"The city reportedly said this is normal while the sinkhole filling settles","url":"https://time.com/4583531/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka-sinking-again/","keywords":["viral","Japan","video"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdff43b2a97fcbe61/6988afd9e20a876b02a93597/japan-sinkhole-sinking-again.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdff43b2a97fcbe61/6988afd9e20a876b02a93597/japan-sinkhole-sinking-again.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"japan sinkhole sinking again","caption":"Japan Sinkhole","creditText":"AP—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4583531/japan-sinkhole-fukuoka-sinking-again/","name":"That Huge Japanese Sinkhole Is Still Sinking"}}]}] ```