Nobody injured in sinkhole incident.

Two parked cars were swallowed by a large sinkhole - 10 metres deep and 10 metres wide - which opened up in the Quadraro district of Rome in the early hours of Thursday.

Police and firefighters closed off the street, Via Sestio Menas, after the chasm opened up at around 01.00. There was nobody injured in the incident.

The vehicles, a Dacia and a Renault, were subsequently removed and the area remained cordoned off on Thursday morning.

ISPRA says the main cause of the collapses is Rome's underground tunnels, sewers and ancient quarries, resulting in a maze extending hundreds of kilometres under the city, with the location of many cavities either unmapped or unknown.

Last month a sinkhole opened up on a street in Naples, swallowing two cars, one of which was in transit at the time.

The two passengers of the car emerged from the crater with only minor injuries, assisted by army soldiers stationed in the area, in what was described as a miraculous escape.

Photos Polizia Roma Capitale