detonation

The volatile nature of the explosive materials has also hampered the emergency response, officials said, as controlled detonations to render the site safe are also expected in the coming days.

Israeli air and artillery strikes, attacks by quadcopter drones, and detonations of remotely driven vehicles laden with explosives are also continuing to drive tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes each day.

The federal agency deployed its national response team, a group of investigators who reconstruct scenes, identify the point of detonation of an explosive device and can help determine the cause of the blast.

A Thursday morning detonation killed one person in a Simi Valley home, and a similar incident critically injured two people in a Bay Area residence where officials suspect fireworks were being manufactured.

Even a single, relatively small nuclear detonation hundreds of miles above the heads of Americans would create an electromagnetic pulse - or EMP - that would have apocalyptic results.