This DID happen once in Louisiana, IIRC had something to do with an underground salt mine, and possibly oil drilling activity.
It's happened a couple of times, and is usually related to the geology.
There are ares of the world that have huge limestone deposits. Old ocean bottom, mainly calcium carbonate. It's called KARST.
These area tend to have lots of caves and fissures and general weirdness.
So this is like what happens if a sinkhole appears under water, and the water just drains away into the caves and cracks underground.