A water main broke beneath 57th Street in Midtown yesterday, stopping traffic and leaving seven buildings without water for the rest of the day, officials said.

The break of the 20-inch water main, which occurred at about 8:10 a.m., flooded the basements of several buildings on 57th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues and forced the brief evacuation of at least one building, officials said. The break also caused minor damage to the pavement along 57th Street.

Traffic on the block where the break took place was stopped for most of the day, and the water was shut off as Consolidated Edison removed asbestos found by the city Department of Environmental Protection during an inspection at about 11 a.m., officials said.

A team of technicians from the Department of Environmental Protection remained at the scene throughout the day waiting for the asbestos to be removed, a spokeswoman for the department, Mercedes Padilla, said. They began repairing the water main break last night, officials said.

The break took place near a steam pipe operated by Con Edison, officials said. A spokeswoman for the company, Elizabeth Clark, said it was unclear where the asbestos came from, but that Con Edison had agreed to clean it up.

The city Department of Buildings inspected four buildings in the vicinity of the break that sustained water damage and determined that the buildings were structurally sound and not in danger of collapse, officials said.

Employees from a number of restaurants and retail stores on the block went to neighboring businesses for access to bathrooms.