
Lower Manhattan was rocked by an huge explosion Friday morning near Union Square and firefighters responded to find three manholes on fire.

The explosion occurred just before 8am, at the intersection of Broadway and East 12th Street - near the landmark bookstore, The Strand.

So far there have been no reports of injuries. Officials have not said what caused the blast, but trucks for the city's gas provider, ConEdison, were on the scene.

A large explosion was heard in downtown Manhattan early Friday morning, near Union Square

The window were blown out of several buildings in the area, including the one above

Shattered gas was seen on the ground outside The Strand early Friday morning

Firefighters closed 12th Street from 4th Avenue to Broadway to investigate the blast and keep people away - since another blast was possible.

The windows were blown out of The Strand bookstore and apartments above.

Jeff Ayers, manager for the Forbidden Planet bookstore next door, told Daily Mail.com:

'It was a transformer explosion. There was smoke billowing out of the corner.

'I have talked to a number of residents in the building and it woke them up. Some of the windows were shattered. The Strand windows have blown out.

'It doesn't seem Iike anyone got hurt,' he said.

Firefighters responded to the scene and started fighting multiple manhole fires

Above, cracked concrete surrounding a manhole at the scene early Friday morning

There were no reports at the scene early Friday morning near the Union Square area

As of 8:30am, it seemed that the active fire had been put out, but there was still a lot of smoke

By 8:30am, there was still a lot of smoke at the site but it did not appear that there were any active flames anymore. Firefighters reported some residual gas in the four buildings impacted by the blast.

The city's emergency management system tweeted around 8:05 am to expect 'extensive traffic delays in the area' due to 'multiple manhole fires'.

Almost exactly two years ago, an apartment building just a few blocks away in the East Village was leveled by a gas explosion. Two people were killed in the ensuing fire.

Prosecutors have accused the building's owners of illegally tapping the gas lines in the building.

A year before that, there was yet another gas explosion uptown in East Harlem. Eight people were killed in that incident, which was blamed on improperly welded gas lines and a sewer issue that the city could have fixed.

The city's emergency management tweeted around 8:05 am to expect 'extensive traffic delays in the area' due to 'multiple manhole fires'

Firefighters coordinating the firefighting efforts early Friday morning

12th Street was closed from 4th Avenue to Broadway while firefighters investigated the blast

Firefighters respond to the scene early Friday morning near the intersections of 12th Street and Broadway

There were no reports of injuries in the blast Friday morning. Officials said to expect major traffic delays in the area

Above, looking north toward The Strand bookstore on the right after the blast