It could be the circuit breaker was not fast enough. Or the surge didn't come in through the power cable.

I had one that came in through the phone line, fried the computer, and then the TV, because I had the computer set to output on the TV. I'm just guessing that it came in through the phone line. No other electrical equipment was damage, other than the computer and TV, and the surge protector on the phone line (which was no protection because it was MOV. I now use UPS).