Water Spews as High as 10 Meters from Beneath Asphalt in Chiba Pref.; Water Pipe Suspected of Being Damaged

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:47 JST, February 11, 2025

A column of water reaching 10 meters high gushed out from beneath the asphalt in a residential area in Oami-Shirasato, Chiba Prefecture, in the predawn hours of Tuesday, police said.

“The asphalt in front of my house is cracked and water is gushing out,” a resident said in a call to police at around 3:05 a.m.

The cause is believed to be a broken underground pipe.

The water pressure broke the windows of a nearby apartment and caused the roof to turn over.

No one was injured.

According to the police, the road caved in and a hole more than 2 meters in diameter opened. The water was spurting out of that hole but subsided after about an hour and a half, as the water in the water pipe was turned off.

The water pipe was restored at around 9:15 a.m., and the road was open to traffic before noon.