A huge waterspout was spotted on Penang Island near Malaysia. Dramatic footage that is going viral on social media shows the waterspout moving to the shore and finally makes landfall. Pictures and videos of the rare natural phenomenon which looks straight out of a sci-fi movie have gone viral on social media. It was spotted in the Tanjung Tokong area of the city of George Town on Malaysia's Penang Island. Last month, residents of the United Arab Emirates had spotted a mysterious hole in the sky called 'fallstreak hole'.

According to eyewitnesses, people living on the island saw a huge waterspout on Tanjung Tokong's shores for almost five minutes. They said it kept moving for some time and finally crashed on the shore. Meanwhile, many people who saw the beautiful occurrence mistook it for a tornado. While waterspouts look similar to tornadoes, they are when cool and unstable air passes over warm waters. They make landfall when they pass over solid grounds. Sharing a picture of the waterspout, a Twitter user wrote, "The residents in Penang thought it's a tornado. No, it's not! It's a waterspout! This phenomenon occurred today. Rather scary!" Turkish Man Tries to Stop a Patio Umbrella From Flying in Strong Wind; It Flies With Him! (Watch Video)

Watch the video below:

The waterspout was accompanied with strong winds in the island. While it did not cause any big casualties, around  200,000 people who reside in the city were affected. According to Channel News Asia, the waterspout damaged at least 50 houses and fell several trees. Roofs of some houses were blown away in the wind. The Penang Civil Defence Force spokesman confirmed that nobody was injured in the occurrence.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 03, 2019 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).