After Boston tragedy, a nation offers support and solidarity

After two explosions rocked the Boston Marathon and shook the nation, Americans took to social media to express their grief and solidarity with the victims. At least three people were killed and 144 injured.

Within hours, #PrayForBoston was trending, and posts on Facebook and Twitter offered housing to stranded runners or their families. By Monday night, entries in Google Docs with contact numbers for those willing to offer a pullout couch or extra beds numbered in the thousands.

Twitter was alight with pleas for everyone to wear race tees Tuesday in honor of the marathon blast victims. Non-runners declared their intentions to wear various colors in a show of support – red, blue, purple, yellow, or to put on their favorite Red Sox jersey to stand with Beantown.

NBA officials canceled a Tuesday game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, with no plans to reschedule. Elsewhere Monday, stadiums and arenas observed moments of silence before play began.

The scoreboard at Marlins Park blinked a somber message requesting “a moment of silence to remember their paths,” before the Florida team took on the Washington Nationals on Monday night.

After a similar pause in Oakland, the stadium swelled with emotion as A’s fans revised their usual chant to, “Let’s go Boston!”

Hockey player Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes scrawled “Pray for Boston” across his skate before taking the ice.

Phillies outfielder Ben Revere taped that sentiment onto his baseball glove, which he used to make a stunning dive catch for a double play against the Cincinnati Reds.

In Hollywood, host Tom Bergeron opened the popular TV show “Dancing With the Stars” by saying, “Our thoughts are with everyone in Boston tonight.... My heart is with you.”

Closer to the site of the bombings, MIT’s 21-story Cecil and Ida Green Building stood over the Charles River, lit up like the American Flag.

Shows of support stretched all the way to space. International Space Station Cmdr. Chris Hadfield added a photo of Boston’s city lights to his collection of pictures from space and tweeted: “Tonight’s Finale: a somber spring night in Boston.”

ALSO:

Boston Marathon: One family’s fears and worries

With Boston blasts, law enforcement plunges into the unknown

Runners, onlookers give first account of Boston Marathon blasts