The gaping hole exposed torn pipes and crushed asphalt at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 64th Street. This photo was tweeted by the New York Fire Department.
New Yorkers living in the borough of Brooklyn woke to a strange sight on Tuesday - a giant sinkhole had swallowed an enormous chunk of road.
The sinkhole, formed by the natural process of erosion, appeared shortly after 7 am at an intersection in the neighborhood of Sunset Park, according to the Fire Department.
The gaping hole exposed torn pipes and crushed asphalt at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 64th Street. No one was hurt.
Sinkholes can be gradual but are often sudden.
A sinkhole in Guatemala in 2010, measuring 18 meters (60 feet) wide and about 30 meters deep, swallowed a three-story building and a nearby house when it suddenly formed.
© Thomson Reuters 2015