Huge Waterspout Makes Landfall In Malaysia. Videos Are Viral

A huge waterspout was spotted near a Malaysian island on Monday afternoon. Eyewitnesses at on Penang Island captured the dramatic spinning waterspout at sea before it moved towards the shore and made landfall. Pics and videos of the rare natural phenomenon have now gone viral online.

According to Channel News Asia, spout was seen spinning near Tanjung Tokong's shores for about five minutes before it briefly arrived on land.  Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes, but form over water when cool and unstable air passes over warmer waters and turns into a spinning column of water. They tend to collapse once they move across solid ground.

"The residents in Penang thought it's a tornado. No, it's not! It's a waterspout! This phenomenon occured today. Rather scary!" wrote one Twitter user while sharing a picture of the towering waterspout.

The residents in Penang thought it's a tornado. No, it's not! It's a waterspout! This phenomenon occured today. Rather scary! pic.twitter.com/q9jI90sZCt

— Lim Phaik Suat (@monkeyvirgo) April 1, 2019

Many others shared videos of the spinning waterspout on Twitter and Facebook

Last try demi @nfsrsln tengok . Happened this morning and I am inside the grey highrise building. pic.twitter.com/RvphOrUMO9

— Nána_Diyana (@_NanaDiana_) April 1, 2019

Penang today. Waterspout pic.twitter.com/fmvtqN7JGD

— Syafiq KP (@syafiqkp) April 1, 2019

The videos have together collected tens of thousands of views, along with hundreds of shocked comments.

The Guardian reports that the waterspout caused minor damage and blew off the roofs of some buildings. Pics shared on social media also show these zinc roofs that were blown away by the waterspout:

No casualties were reported.

A similar waterspout was spotted in Italy last year. It created a huge buzz online as pics and videos of it lashing the city of Salerno went viral.