A Stony Brook University graduate student and a faculty member were escorted from the Earth and Space Sciences Building to the Stony Brook University Hospital emergency room around 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 after an irregular reaction during a chemical experiment on the second floor.

Assistant Chief of Police and Director of the Office of Emergency Management Lawrence Zacarese said the student and faculty member sustained minor injuries and were transported to the hospital for further evaluation.

Steven Jaret, a graduate student in planetary geology, was inside the building when the reaction occurred.

“After the explosion, you could feel the building shake,” he said.

Zacarese said that the building would be shut down for the evening so that campus representatives and structural engineers could assess the damage. He said more information about the extent of the damage and the reopening of the building would be available tomorrow.

The History 104 final exam, which was supposed to take place in the ESS building at 5:30 p.m., was turned into a take-home final exam when the building’s closure was announced.

Zacarese said professors made other arrangements for their exams that were supposed to take place this evening.