Windows of buildings in a radius of a hundred meters jumped and cracks appeared in masonry. The detonation could be heard from up to 5 miles away and the explosive device left a crater the size of a double-decker, police say.
As a precaution, some 2,600 homes had been evacuated. The dud was packed in 400 tons of sand by explosives experts to mitigate the blast as much as possible.
A thousand kilos
The bomb was dropped by a German plane in World War II. During the war, this type of bomb weighing about 1,000 kilograms was nicknamed Hermann, because its shape was reminiscent of the corpulent appearance of Nazi leader Hermann Göring. The bomb was found this week during construction work near the campus of the University of Exeter.
The exact damage of the explosion is still being investigated. The police hope that the first people can return to their homes tonight.
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