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Twenty-six people were injured after an explosion occurred in Manhattan trash bin Saturday evening, authorities said.
The Fire Department said none of the injures appear to be life-threatening. The explosion on West 23rd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Chelsea was reported at around 8:30 p.m.
Police spokesman Stephen Davis said the explosion is believed to have come from inside a trash bin. Photos on social media appeared to show a bin that was mangled in the blast. A construction site is also near the area where the blast occurred.
"It was a loud boom, a deep boom," an eyewitness who was eating dinner nearby when the blast occurred said. "We all ran out and went down the street. You could feel it in your chest and in your legs."
The cause of the explosion is still unclear, but a police bomb squad was called in as a precaution to look for secondary devices in the immediate area, an FDNY official said.
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is on the scene. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said a New York arson and explosives task force was responding to the blast.
President Barack Obama was apprised of the situation, a White House official said.
"There was a loud boom and our entire apartment shook," said Neha Jain, 24, who lives on W. 23rd and Sixth Avenue. "All the pictures fell to the floor and then I heard people screaming."
Jain said the explosion shattered the glass in her building's lobby. "My first thought was it's a bomb, Jain said. "It's quite terrifying."
The New York Office of Emergency Management said it was responding to the scene. A large police presence and ambulances responded to the area. The NYPD's counterterrorism unit said it was also responding.
Police were searching cars and trash cans in the area.
Facebook activated its "Safety Check" feature so that users can easily notify friends and family members of their status.
In New Jersey earlier Saturday, a device consisting of three pipe bombs exploded in Seaside Heights along the planned route of a 5K Marines charity race. No one was hurt. The explosive device was placed in a trash can in that incident, NBC New York reported.
Seaside Heights on the Jersey Shore, around 85 miles south of the Chelsea section of Manhattan.