Huge Sinkhole Cracks San Francisco Street Open

A huge sinkhole appeared in a San Francisco street near Union Street's shopping district after a 74-year-old pipe burst shortly before midnight on Sunday, according to local media reports.

The sinkhole, which is several feet long, appeared at the intersection of Green and Fillmore streets in the city on Monday morning, near a popular area close to downtown's Union Street, according to San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesman Joseph Sweiss.

A clip of the site of the incident shared by the San Francisco Standard on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows the massive sinkhole in the middle of the empty road, which has been cordoned off by authorities. During the night, after the pipe explosion, the sinkhole was filled with water and mud that flooded nearby streets.

The 16-inch water main was cast iron and had been installed in 1949, according to the SF Water Power Sewer. The company wrote on X that "the break on the 16" main also affected a nearby 8" water main."

Its break was reported by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) on X on Sunday night, which informed drivers and residents that buses and other vehicles were being rerouted because of the sinkhole.

Sweiss said it was not yet sure whether the sinkhole was created by the water pipe break.

Firefighters arrived at the site of the incident two minutes after the water pipe broke at about 11:24 p.m. PT on Sunday night, and they worked to fix the damage went on until morning.

The damage to the San Francisco street is not expected to be fixed before at least a week, according to Pacific Gas & Electric Company worker Matt Quintana, who was interviewed by the SF Standard.

KCBS Radio reported that there was no timeline on fixing the damaged road.

The water main break happened near a gas pipe, raising concerns of a leak among residents. According to SF Water Power Sewer, PG&E was on scene on Monday "to isolate the gas main inside the work area." PG&E worker Quintana told the SF Standard that the gas has been shut off during work and that there had been no leakage.

In a statement to Newsweek, a PG&E spokesperson wrote that multiple crews dispatched to the site of the water main break on Monday morning remain onsite "to assess the impact to our gas distribution lines in the area."

They added: "We have isolated a section of line—stopped the flow of gas—located at the intersection of Green and Fillmore due to impact from the sink hole. This was completed at 1:30 p.m. on Monday and resulted in an interruption of gas service for three customers."

PG&E does not expect further disruptions to its customers. "However, if the impact from the water main extends beyond this location, it is possible that additional customers could be impacted," the spokesperson said.

"By turning off the gas in this location, we are able to mitigate an unplanned release of gas in the event the sink hole does end up severely damaging the line. We have observed additional nearby locations of roadway instability due to the water main break. We will continue to monitor and determine if/when other sections of gas main may need to be isolated."

Residents have reportedly been affected by the bursting of pipe, telling the outlet they did not have running water through the night, while by Monday the water flowing through their taps was dark brown.

SF Power Water Sewer wrote that customers in the surrounding area were "experiencing intermittent water & temporary service interruptions" but that its crews were working "to restore water service ASAP."

Update 9/12/23, 10:20 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a comment from PG&E.