Duck! The moment massive subway explosion that was supposed to stay UNDERGROUND rocked New York City

The unexpectedly strong explosion at a subway construction site has been revealed in stunning photos, two days after the blast shot up debris and smoke and sent workers ducking for cover.
The incident occurred on Tuesday as crews were working on New York City's $4.5billion subway expansion on Manhattan's East Side on Tuesday,
The force of the blast on the corner of 72nd Street and 2nd Avenue shattered windows, damaged a building and forced a street closure, officials said.

Explosion: New York City was on edge earlier this week when an errant blast sent smoke and debris flying

Boom: The explosion spewed chunks of concrete and other debris as high as eight stories in the dynamite blast gone awry

It also startled hundreds of New Yorkers who were walking and working in the area.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said something went wrong as contractors were blasting a tunnel for the subway at about 1pm.

 

Officials were trying to figure out what happened at the construction site, beneath East 72nd Street and Second Avenue.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Adam Lisberg said on Wednesday that the explosion occurred 40 feet below street level where contractors were digging an escalator shaft.

Shattered: Construction workers remove window display items near the shattered window of Kolb Art Gallery following damage from an intentional underground explosion on the Second Avenue subway project on East 72nd on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

He said the blast was focused on one location that wasn't designed to handle that much force.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said yesterday that two 1,800-pound steel plates were lifted into the air, raining debris onto the street.
MTA capital construction president Michael Horodniceanu said the cover was supposed to absorb the pressure but didn't. He said the the plates were not properly secured to the ground.
The transit authority is hiring an independent safety consultant to review conditions at the site.

Smashed: A workers measure the area of a shattered window at the Kolb Art Gallery following damage from an intentional underground explosion on the Second Avenue subway project on East 72nd

No one was injured during the botched blast, and there was no structural damage to surrounding buildings.
The Kolb Art Gallery, which sells custom paintings and furniture, is located on the ground floor.
Workers there were removing pieces of art off a desk in the gallery after the blast.
Diana Mighiu, an employee at the gallery, said flying rocks flew through the door after the explosion, which damaged some store merchandise, including lamps and vases.

Assessment: Construction workers look over the damage following a blast at a subway construction site in New York August 21, 2012

Aftermath: Blasting at the construction site for a New York City subway line has shattered windows and sent smoke billowing up to the street

'The cement floor broke and went up in the air. We saw all this smoke,' she said. 'It was really scary.'
There was no structural damage to any surrounding buildings, said Tony Sclafani, spokesman for the city's buildings department.

Venancio Arvizo, who works at a cafe near the construction site, said that blasting was common at the site, but the explosion Tuesday afternoon was much louder than usual.

'It shook the entire building,' he said. 'The windows shook and shattered. It shot up almost like a volcano out of the street.'