Gender reveal party explosion rocks several US towns

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A massive blast from a gender reveal party sparked fears of an earthquake when it shook entire towns on the New Hampshire-Massachusetts border.

Residents complained that the foundations to their homes were damaged after a family set off 80lbs of explosives at a nearby quarry on Tuesday evening around 7pm.

Cops in Kingston, a New Hampshire town not far from the Massachusetts border, received a flurry of 911 calls from terrified homeowners after shockwaves rattled properties within a 20-mile radius of the Torromeo quarry.

When they arrived on the scene, they found people who admitted to setting off 80lbs of the Tannerite explosive, which is sold over the counter for use in firearms practise. It was blown up with blue chalk to create blue smoke to announce a baby boy.

The person responsible for purchasing and setting off the explosives has come forward to police, but their identity has not yet been revealed.        

The force of the explosion, which was felt in towns as far off as Massachusetts, led some to speculate that the rumblings had been caused by an earthquake, though this has now been proven untrue. 

The 80lbs (36kg) of Tannerite explosive was blown up with blue chalk to create coloured smoke for the gender reveal.

The family thought the quarry would be the safest spot to blow up the material, police said.

Nearby residents said the blast rocked their homes. Some reported property damage, NBC 10 Boston reported.

‘We heard this god-awful blast,’ Sara Taglieri, who lives in a home that abuts the quarry, told the television station.

‘It knocked pictures off our walls … I’m all up for silliness and whatnot, but that was extreme.’

Ms Taglieri’s husband, Matt, told the TV station that neighbours reported cracks in the foundation of their homes.

Kingston Fire Chief Graham Pellerin said the fire department had responded to one report of a cracked foundation and that there had been no other signs of damage to the house.

Authorities are currently investigating other reports of cracked foundations.  

While 20 miles north of the quarry, in Epping, Heidi Jordan had been preparing food on a grill when she heard the explosion a a ‘deep rumble’, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.

‘I thought for a second that maybe a large dump truck had gone off the road and struck a tree. 

‘I also considered that it may have been another minor earthquake,’ she said.

While Kristen Lockard, who lives in East Hampstead, was having dinner with friends in East Kingston when the explosion went off.

She said it: ‘Sounded like one big boom and the house shook and the windows rattled. It lasted only three seconds.’ 

Video footage obtained by CBSN Boston showed the effects of the blast on buildings within the shockwave radius, with a smart doorbell visibly shaking as a result of the blast.

Additionally, some local residents claim that their tap water has turned brown following the explosion, with Maggie Jasmin, from Plaistow, and her family now choosing to drink from bottles instead, New Hampshire Union-Leader reports.

She said she discovered the water had changed colour yesterday morning when she went to get a glass of water. 

Living just two miles from the quarry, Maggie also said that the only other time the water turned brown for a brief period was last year during construction work down the road. 

Police are investigating reports of property damage and are considering whether to file charges. 

No injuries were reported but officers said they had seen a video of the reveal which showed the child was a boy, NBC Boston reports.

Police said an investigation is ongoing.

The enormous explosion is just another example in a series of dangerous gender reveal parties.

Last month, two pilots, who were releasing a sign in the sky for a reveal party, were killed when they crashed into the sea just off Cancun, Mexico.

The expectant couple and their guests were filming the small propeller plane from a boat and were heard shouting, ‘It’s a girl,’ before shrieking in horror as the aircraft plunged into the Nichupte lagoon.

The Cessna 206 had made a swooping turn over the party boat with a sign to reveal that the couple were having a baby girl on Tuesday afternoon.

But after the aircraft moved through the apex of its turn, it appeared to rapidly lose power and fell headlong towards the water amid cries of terror from the spectating party.

Emergency services rushed to the plane where they found the pilot and co-pilot inside. One of the pilots died during the rescue effort, while the other died as paramedics provided first aid on dry land.

In an incident last year, 7,000 acres of land suffered fire damage as a result of a smoke machine used during a gender reveal party, while back in April 2017, an off-duty US border patrol agent caused $8million of damage to 47,000 acres of land by shooting a blue-coloured explosive.