TOKYO - Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan resumed operations Thursday morning, a day after its closure due to the explosion of a wartime dud shell that damaged a section of its taxiway, local media reported.

A Japan Airlines plane to Fukuoka departed at around 7:40 am local time in the first flight since the airport was shut for safety checks on Wednesday, Kyodo News reported.

The transport ministry office at Miyazaki Airport said Wednesday that a blast was heard on a taxiway shortly before 8 am local time as air traffic controllers saw smoke rising from the site.

The airport office said the explosion created an oval-shaped hole measuring about 7 meters long, 4 meters wide and 1 meter deep on asphalt pavement near the taxiway.

No one was injured and a total of 87 flights to and from the airport were canceled as of 2 pm local time as the runway was closed for the day.

READ MORE: Japan airport shut after likely WWII-era bomb explodes near runway

Japan's Self-Defense Forces and authorities investigating the site have determined that the explosion was from a 500-pound US bomb that was dropped by the US military during World War II.