The Port of Morehead City in North Carolina has been evacuated, and evacuation warnings have gone out to residents in downtown Morehead City after containers full of the powerful explosive PETN (the same explosive allegedly carried by the Christmas Day attacker) were punctured: UPDATE 1-East US port shut, evacuated in explosives alert.

There’s no suggestion of any kind of terrorist connection; this is apparently a legal shipment.

RALEIGH, N.C., Jan 12 (Reuters) - North Carolina’s Morehead City Port, a major import entry point for rubber and other commodities, was closed and evacuated on Tuesday after containers holding explosives were accidentally punctured, authorities said.

“As a precaution, they have evacuated the port area … everything indicates this was by accident,” a spokeswoman for the Morehead City Police Department told Reuters.

Morehead City Port is one of the deepest ports on the U.S. East Coast and its traffic includes imports of chemicals.

Morehead City Mayor Jerry Jones told CNN that emergency services had sealed off the port area where the explosive substance had spilled from drums onto the port property. “I can confirm it is PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) and it is explosive,” he added.

People remaining in downtown Morehead City have been warned to stay away from windows and doors.