Danvers, Mass ? The explosions were powerful enough to give people more than 20 miles away a shudder. Jim Glavin, watching TV at home across the street, got a lot more than that.

A chemical plant erupted early Wednesday morning with two blasts that threw Glavin off his couch and twisted his house on its foundation.

The 70-year-old’s kitchen floor was littered with shattered windows and the contents of his cabinets. His back door, blown off the hinges, was resting on the opposite stairs. Floor supports in his cellar were knocked over.

Outside, a ball of flame rose high above the neighborhood.

“I thought for sure a plane exploded,” Glavin said. “I’d swear I was in Lebanon or something. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Glavin called out to his son and daughter, and they joined hundreds of their neighbors in a quick exodus.

The 2:50 a.m. explosions leveled the chemical plant and wrecked 25 homes beyond repair. Dozens of other buildings were damaged – roofs ripped off, windows blown out. The roof on a building holding a pizza shop and bakery was torn open and caved in.

Perhaps the only thing as shocking as seeing parts of the centuries-old neighborhood turned to ash and tangled wood and metal was that no one was killed. Of more than 300 people nearby, 10 suffered injuries – all minor.

Damaged houses are seen near the site of an explosion in Danvers, Mass. The explosion early Wednesday at a chemical plant was felt several miles away. It sparked a massive fire in Danvers, destroyed area homes and businesses, caused minor injuries and forced evacuations, officials said.

“The miracle is you have the equivalent of a 2,000-pound bomb going off in a residential neighborhood at night when everybody is home, and no one’s dead and no one is seriously injured,” said Gov. Mitt Romney, who toured the site.

Emergency crews from more than 30 surrounding cities and towns responding to the explosions in Danvers, about 20 miles northeast of Boston.

Officials said it could take weeks to reconstruct and determine the cause of the accident at CAI Inc., a manufacturer of solvents and inks.

Fire Chief James Tutko said the nearly 90 homes in the neighborhood all suffered some damage, and up to 25 may need to be rebuilt. The neighborhood, which dates to the 1700s, is a tightly packed mix of homes, industrial buildings and businesses that predates zoning rules.

Residents in the most severely affected areas would not be allowed back into their homes until at least Friday, Tutko said at a press conference Wednesday night.