Underground explosion of another transformer.

Here we go again and again. Another transformer has exploded but in underground now in Westwood. This explosion was violent and damaged bus and injured a bus driver.
"http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8136322"

"Minwan An was working at a restaurant a half-block away. He says his building shook so violently that he suspected a terrorist attack."
Here is a witness of the situation :
www.youtube.com...
You can see smoke living underground.

Here is an additional report :
www.latimes.com...

So, i wonder if it can be ordinary. There were many explosions and blackout these last days ( Swedish cruse ship black out, Malaysian airport black out).
It's just totally strange.

Working link

This is a very uneducated gues, but cant solar activity cause things like this to happen? Although it would be on a much larger scale. Transformers arnt simple toreplace as well, I used to work with them and they aint cheap or quick to build.

my dad was an electrical lineman. exploding transformers are fairly rare, but globally not so much.

the biggest threat to the local electrical grid are ring tailed cats. They will short out a transformer about 2 times a year.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Or Koalas or Possums here in Oz. That's why most poles with a transformer mounted on them have a sheet metal band around them at some point (animal can't get past it as claws slip).

An E.M.P. will knock out power. Not because of a high induced voltage in the lines but because H.V. protection is electronically controlled.