A powerful blast shaved a Harper Woods home early Monday, leaving two people hospitalized for "serious injuries."

The explosion occurred shortly before 11 am at 20839 Lennon. .

Harper Woods Police Chief Jim Burke told the free press that the two injured people were outside the house at the time of the blast. One of them is in critical condition, while the other is in serious condition at St. John's Hospital, said Mr. Burke.

"I felt this tremor, considering the collapse of the house.There was a woman bleeding and (a) a man was lying in the debris," said his neighbor Elizabeth Hardy, who witnesses of the explosion.

Fire officials said the house, from 1,200 to 1,400 square feet, was being renovated.

Officials are convinced that the house has exploded natural gas. This could be a failure of a pipeline, any small gas leak with the windows closed could fill the house and with any source of ignition, it could explode, officials said.

The neighborhood was evacuated and electricity and gas from the ten houses surrounding the site of the explosion were cut off. When people can go home, it's up to DTE Energy, said a police official.

The explosion blew windows in the neighborhood and residents gathered outside watching the first responders assess the scene.

Tamila Davis, who also lives in the neighborhood, said that her whole house was shaking. "It looked like a big boom and I jumped on my feet," she said.

The explosion could be heard and felt for miles.

Ellen Creager, who lives at Grosse Pointe Woods, about a mile away from the scene of the blast, said in an email: thought it was an earthquake or other meteorite hitting Michigan. "

"I bet people have felt it for a few miles in all directions," she said.

DTE Energy told the Free Press that the house was in their service area. A spokesman for the energy company said they did not know yet what caused the explosion but that a team had been sent anyway.

"We have teams en route to investigate, but we do not know for sure what could have caused anything," the spokesman said.

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Contact the reporter Marc Daalder at [email protected] or on Twitter at @marcdaalder.

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