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The U.S. government urged Americans abroad to be vigilant after police in London's bustling nightclub and theater district today defused a car bomb that could have killed hundreds of people.

Hours later, police confirmed that a second explosives-rigged car had been found nearby.

The first bomb, discovered near Piccadilly Circus, was powerful enough to have caused "significant injury or loss of life," British Anti-terrorism Police Chief Peter Clarke said. An ambulance crew spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes-Benz that was filled with gasoline, propane and nails.

Clarke said Friday evening that the second car — also a Mercedes — was originally parked illegally on nearby Cockspur Street but had been towed from the West End to an impound lot near Hyde Park.

"The vehicle was found to contain very similar materials to those that had been found in the first car," he said. "There was a considerable amount of fuel and gas canisters. As in the first vehicle, there was also a quantity of nails. This, like the first device, was potentially viable."

There was no claim of responsibility for the car bombs.

The discoveries came just before the second anniversary of the July 7, 2005, suicide bombings that killed 52 commuters on three London subways and a bus, and two days after Gordon Brown became Britain's prime minister.

"We are currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism," Britain's new home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said after an emergency meeting of top officials.

Police were examining footage from closed-circuit TV cameras, Clarke said, hoping the surveillance network that covers much of central London will help them track down the drivers of the cars.

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, who was briefed on the investigation, said British authorities had recovered a cellphone they believed was to be the trigger for the explosion.

The ambulance crew — responding to a call just before 1:30 a.m. about a person who had fallen at a Haymarket nightclub — noticed the smoking car parked in front of the building, Clarke said.

The crew alerted police, and a bomb squad disabled the explosives, Clarke said.

Photographs of the metallic green Mercedes show a canister bearing the words "patio gas," indicating it was propane, next to the car. The back door was open with blankets spilling out.

The Haymarket thoroughfare is packed with restaurants, bars, movie houses and theaters, and was buzzing at that hour. "Phantom of the Opera" is playing at Her Majesty's Theater down the street.

It was ladies' night Thursday, nicknamed "Sugar 'N' Spice," at the Tiger Tiger nightclub, a three-story venue that at full capacity can pack in 1,770 people and stays open until 3 a.m.

The discovery of the first bomb triggered a series of security scares across central London, and police closed Park Lane, Fleet Street and nearby Chancery Lane to investigate other suspicious vehicles.

Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister Wednesday, called it a reminder that Britain faced a serious and continuous threat of terrorist attacks: "I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days."

There had been no intelligence on planned attacks by the Al Qaeda terrorist network, a British government official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

Londoners seemed relatively unfazed by the news. People crowded onto buses and subway trains during the afternoon rush hour, shopping streets were busy, and sidewalk cafes did brisk business.

"Sure, it's disturbing, and obviously it reminds everyone of 7/7," said Ian Hiskos, 32, eating at a cafe across from the police cordon on Haymarket. "I try not to think about these things."

The terrorist threat level in Britain has remained at "severe" — meaning an attack is highly likely — since August. But Metropolitan Police sent more officers into the streets of London on Friday, and authorities stepped up security at Wimbledon.

One analyst said the bombers could be trying to send Brown a message.

"It's a way of testing Gordon Brown," said Bob Ayers, a security expert at the Chatham House think tank. "It's not too farfetched to assume it was designed to expedite the decision on withdrawal" from Iraq.

The U.S. officials said they saw no potential terrorist threat in the United States ahead of the July 4 holiday. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said there were no immediate plans to raise the U.S. threat level, currently at yellow, or "elevated."

New York strengthened its already tight security as a precaution, putting additional police in Times Square and the mass transit system.

"We're going to ramp up a little bit, but nothing dramatic," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said. "We'll take a little bit of extra precaution. Some of you will notice, some of you won't — but we have to be cognizant."

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