Blogs respond to London blasts

Police believe there have been several blasts across the city

News of the suspected terror attacks across central London has quickly spread across the net as people try to get information about the chaos.

According to blog tracking service, Technorati, there were more than 1,300 posts about the blasts by 1015 GMT.

With mobile phone networks suffering congestion, blogs and news websites are the way many are gathering detail.

Scores of people were caught up in the explosions on the underground network and a double-decker bus in London.

I managed to get as far as Edgeware Road before being thrown out of the tube. Passed about 15 fire engines on the five minute walk from there Blog poster BBC Reporters' Log

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was "reasonably clear" there had been a series of terrorist attacks.

An Islamist website has posted a statement - claiming to be from al-Qaeda - saying it was behind the attacks.

Earlier in the morning, one blogger wrote: "Scared now. There's no one in the office.

"I managed to get as far as Edgeware Road before being thrown out of the tube. Passed about 15 fire engines on the five minute walk from there."

Another said: "Our outbound landline call carrier is down, according to the people that manage our offices.

"I can't make calls with my mobile at all. Nada."

Many blog posts are expressing concern for people who might have been caught up in the explosions, while others are précising and pointing to online news coverage.

Some are offering roll-calls of people who might normally be in London, as well as posting safety advice from the police.

Others started to speculate about the cause of the blasts at an early stage.

Photos of blasts

Flickr, the online photo sharing website, has also started to see images from people of the blasts.

Today's events have resulted in an enormous surge in traffic, probably the highest that we have ever seen Suranga Chandratillake, Blinkx

A search for "London" reveals one image of the shredded London bus. Others include screenshots of TV news reports and general crowd scenes.

Groups are being set up to pool all the photos which are "tagged" with words such as "explosions", "bomb" and "London". Tagging makes it easier for people to find relevant photos.

Many who have no access to TVs have been using online video search services, such as Blinkx TV, to get information about the blasts.

"Today's events have resulted in an enormous surge in traffic, probably the highest that we have ever seen," Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CTO of blinkx told the BBC News website.

"In order to handle these search queries and the level of traffic we have switched some capacity over from the US."

08:49 police called to Liverpool Street tube station after reports of a bang

Blasts also reported at Aldgate East, Edgware Rd, Kings Cross, Moorgate, Russell Square tube stations

10:14 Reports of blast on bus at Tavistock Square