The runway shutdown has led to the grounding of 87 flights but there is no danger of any further explosions and repair works to fill the hole should be completed by Thursday morning.

An unexploded U.S. bomb from World War II exploded at a Japanese airport Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights.

TOKYO (AP) — An unexploded U.S. bomb from the Second World War that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said.

Land and Transport Ministry officials are still determining what caused the sudden detonation of the 500-pound U.S. bomb Wednesday.

Japan's Miyazaki Airport was closed for travel after authorities confirmed that a 500-pound US bomb probably dropped during World War II had exploded. Multiple unexploded bombs have previously been found at Miyazaki airport, according to officials.

Unexploded WWII US bomb explodes at Japanese airport, causing crater and flight cancellations, no injuries reported.

Land and Transport Ministry officials said there were no aircraft nearby when the bomb exploded at Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan.

An unexploded U.S. bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport has exploded, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries.

Thousands of undetonated explosives remain in Japan nearly 80 years after the war ended.