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Hundreds were caught up in the Belfast alert
A bomb that partially exploded inside a car in Belfast city centre contained 60kgs (132lbs) of home-made explosives, police have said.
A masked gang hijacked a car at 21:30 GMT on Sunday, placed a bomb on board and ordered the driver to take it to a shopping centre.
It exploded as Army bomb experts prepared to examine the car left at the entrance to Victoria Square car park.
No-one was injured. Police have blamed dissident republicans.
Northern Ireland's chief constable Matt Baggott said there had been a "surge in dissident republican activity" recently.
He added the public would see a "significant increase in police presence" in the city centre over the next few weeks.
"We need people who have changed their minds and come into the peace process to give us information," he said.
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said if the bomb had fully detonated while the driver was in the car "he would have been killed outright".
He said it was a "terrifying, shocking experience for the poor driver" adding that those behind the device were "very reckless."
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Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said the bomb partially exploded
Police said a silver Renault Laguna car, registration number CJZ 4697, had been hijacked in Jamaica Street, in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast.
It was then left at Victoria Square, opposite the city's main police station, and not far from Belfast's court complex.
A security operation began and premises were evacuated. The bomb partly exploded at about 23:15 GMT.
Justice Minister David Ford said those behind the attack had nothing to offer.
"Those responsible for this attack have shown a total disregard for life, including that of the driver they forced to carry the device. They also have a disregard for the people of Belfast," he said.
"Had the device exploded en route it could have caused untold death and injury."
Belfast Lord Mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir. of Sinn Féin, tweeted that people "won't be deflected from Christmas cheer by micro-groups of wreckers".
DUP councillor Guy Spence tweeted: "As the DUP rep on Belfast City Centre management board, I condemn last night's attack on Victoria Square. I urge anyone with info to contact PSNI."
SDLP MLA Fearghal McKinney said: "It's only good fortune that no-one was seriously injured, or worse, and those behind this have nothing to offer. Forty years of violence proved that."
BBC NI reporter Rick Faragher, who lives in the Victoria Square apartments, was among those who had to leave their home.
He said at about 22:00 GMT police told him there was a suspect car and he could not go back inside.
"I had my coat on, my phone with me, but the lights were still on in my flat, they told us to wait outside. They said they were not sure how long it could last for," he said.
"People were confused; they were not quite sure what was going on.
"There was a tremendous sense of frustration, it was particularly cold last night and there was quite a few of us out on the street.
"They let us back in just after five o'clock this morning."
Last week, a bus driver was ordered to drive to a police station in Londonderry with a bomb on board.
On Saturday night, a van driver was threatened by two masked men and told to deliver a package to the same police station.
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