Weird, I actually remember more problems with BC explosions than with IC2 explosions when I first started. You may be confusing the Gregtech explosions with IC2. From what I remember of just pure IC2 exploding from back in the days of Tekkit, machines that exploded didn't actually harm anything nearby. They'd just disappear on their own. It's only with the addition of Gregtech to the packs that I've heard people complaining of chain reaction explosions taking out their entire base from IC2 machines.
While I've lost so very many quarries from combustion engine explosions back in the day. Worst is when I put the storage for the quarry output right next to the quarry. Bad news bears