MANHATTAN — A massive explosion rocked a Con Edison plant near East 14th Street and the FDR on Monday evening as Hurricane Sandy continued to batter New York City.

Officials from Con Edison confirmed that the explosion took place at a substation and subsequently knocked out power to about 230,000 people in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Area residents shared photos and video footage of the explosion via social media websites shortly after it happened.

"Huge explosion just rocked the East Village, everything went dark and I mean dark. # Sandy I'm now legit scared," tweeted @YourAnonNews.

"Whole east side of Manhattan just went black after a huge explosion. Empire State Building still lit," tweeted @JoannaSimkin.