A worker at a Boston university has been injured after a package blew up while he was opening it, sparking fears across other universities in the US city.

Police said the Northeastern University staff member, a 45-year-old man, suffered hand injuries when the package detonated as he opened it late on Tuesday (local time).

“The staff member sustained minor injuries and is being treated,” Shannon Nargi, a spokesperson for Northeastern University, told CNN.

The explosion prompted other universities in Boston to issue alerts as police, ambulance and fire service responders rushed to the scene.

A search turned up a second suspicious package near the city’s Museum of Fine Arts.

“A search revealed a second similar package that was ultimately rendered safe by our bomb squad. I will tell you that the scene is secure, in that the investigation is ongoing,” Boston police Superintendent Felipe Colon said.

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Northeastern University has an undergraduate population of about 15,700 students.

Police were still investigating how the package that blew up arrived at the university’s virtual reality centre late on Tuesday. Law enforcement agencies told CNN it came with a rambling note attacking Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the relationship between academic institutions and the developers of virtual reality.

Ms Nargi said Boston Police’s bomb squad and Boston Emergency Services remained at the scene investigating. The centre was evacuated.

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The chief of the university’s police department, Michael Davis, said an officer arrived on the scene within a minute of the call after the package blew up.

“It’s very important to note, our campus is secure,” he said.

Despite that, university police urged “all members of the community to be cautious”. In statements, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said their police departments were monitoring the situation and repeated the warning to be cautious.

An FBI spokesperson said it was assisting the investigation.