Explosives used for a gender reveal party in New Hampshire were so loud that residents across state lines thought there was an earthquake.
Locals in the Rockingham County area reported the foundations of their homes cracking and walls rocking to police, who located the origin of the blast in a quarry, where a family admitted to holding the gathering.
The source was 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of Tannerite, an explosive used for firearms practice.
The family said they thought the quarry was the safest place to set off the blast and let their relatives know they were expecting a baby boy.
“It was earth-shaking,” a neighbor who lives near Torromeo Industries in Kingston, where the explosives were set off at 7pm EST on Tuesday, told NBC news.
Residents in a 20-mile radius and as far away as Massachusetts heard the explosion, with many calling 911.
“We heard this god-awful blast,” said Sara Taglieri, who lives in a home that abuts the quarry. “It knocked pictures off our walls … I’m all up for silliness and what not, but that was extreme.”
Mrs Taglieri’s husband told NBC that the blast cracked the foundation of neighbors’ homes.
According to police, no injuries were reported, but investigations into property damage are ongoing and charges could be forthcoming.
The incident is the latest in a series of mishaps caused by lavish gender reveal parties in the United States.
A fire that damaged more than 7,000 acres of land in California was found to have been caused by a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device, used to set off streams of blue or pink, in 2020.
In 2019, a 56-year-old woman was killed instantly after a piece of shrapnel from a homemade explosive hit her in the head. Some pieces of debris flew as far as 100 yards away.
And in Arizona a party caused a week-long wildfire, devastating 45,000 acres of land, in 2017. The father of the child was handed a sentence of five years probation and fined.
