A neighbour has spoken of the horrifying moment a nearby flat was torn apart by a sudden blast.
A home in the middle of a block of flats at Collingwood Court, Washington , was ripped open in a suspected gas explosion at 11.59am on Monday.
Most of the outer wall of the flat was damaged, leaving the flat's contents open to the air and rubble and glass littering the street.
One man taken to hospital but Northumbria Police said this was "a precaution" and that nobody was believed to have been seriously hurt.
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Neighbours were evacuated as firefighters arrived and waited anxiously to find out if their homes would be safe, as structural engineers assessed the building.
Amanda-Jayne Davies, 27, lives just two doors down from the now-destroyed flat.
Recalling the moment her peaceful morning was interrupted by the shock blast, she said: "I was sitting in my living room, which is just the next balcony across from the flat that was affected.
"I felt my whole floor shake, there was a rumbling and then a much louder noise.
"It felt like what I would imagine an earthquake would be like - it was the sort of rumbling that you know is not just your neighbours jumping up and down, there’s something wrong.
"I looked out of the window and there was rubble all along the path."
After the dramatic noise, Amanda-Jayne said she was scared there might be another blast.
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And when she saw the full extent of the damage to her neighbour's home, she was horrified.
She said: “I was shocked, I didn’t know if there would be any after effects for my flat - I was prepared to lose everything, and that’s terrifying.
"It felt like such a close call, it could have affected me and I still don’t know if there will be damage.
“When I looked out of my window, I could see bricks down in the garden, and I thought maybe somebody’s balcony had come down, but then when I walked round and saw it was the whole front of the flat, I was really shocked.”
Amanda-Jayne’s mum, Jennifer Morrison, was at work in Wallsend when she received a terrifying text from her daughter: “I think something’s happened to the building” and then “we’ve been evacuated.”
Jennifer said: “I felt sick, my colleague said I went white as a sheet and I started shaking.
"I came straight here - it was the longest journey ever, it was horrible. I felt sick when I saw the photo, because I knew it was so near to where she lives.”
Residents from flats across the large square court all converged on the nearby community centre, waiting hours to find out when they'd be able to get home.
One man had been visiting a friend who lived close to the damaged flat when they felt the blast.
He said: "The whole wall has just come down. We didn't know what had happened, but you could feel it through the floor.
"I've never seen anything like it before."
Two women who live on the other side of the court, who didn’t want to be named, said they’d been shocked when friends called to tell them what happened.
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One said: “It’s just crazy. It’s lucky there weren’t bairns playing outside down there when it happened.”
The other added: “I’ve got friends who live nearby and they are worried now. The lass who lives downstairs is scared to go back home now.”
A spokesperson for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: "Crews from Washington , Birtley and South Shields are currently in attendance at a suspected gas explosion at Collingwood Court Washington.
"A block of flats has been evacuated and we are awaiting on an assessment from structural engineers."
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