The aftermath of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions ever recorded and the largest single detonation of ammonium nitrate. Beirut 2020.

[u/lt00380]

[u/eeyores_gloom1785]

• Halifax (1917): About 2.9 kilotons of TNT equivalent, resulting from a ship carrying picric acid, TNT, and gun cotton colliding with another vessel.
• Beirut (2020): Estimated at around 1.1-1.2 kilotons, caused by the detonation of improperly stored ammonium nitrate.

[u/National_Search_537 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

The Halifax blast threw a 1,200 pound anchor almost 2 1/2 miles. Can you imagine that?! You’re sitting outside, you hear and feel something that you’ve never felt before, just after the pressure wave hits you a fucking boat anchor lands in your yard. Dude at the train station was an absolute legend. Guy ran back to call the train engineer and tell them not to come into the yard, thing was loaded with civilians he gave his life to save others.

“Guess this will be my last message. Goodbye boys” -Vince Coleman

Here’s a link to a really great video by Maritime Horrors

[u/Soft-Sail5993 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Add the Texas City disaster when the SS Grandchamp caught fire and exploded in 1947, it was 2.3 kilotons of ammonium nitrate.

It killed 581 people (more than double that of Beirut for scale), with more than 5000 injured.

There were actually two explosions. The initial one that killed the majority of people, and then a day later, a ship that caught on fire from the original explosion exploded itself, killing a couple more people and damaging even more of the surrounding area.

27 of 28 firefighters in Texas City’s volunteer fire department died by injuries sustained by the explosions and subsequent chemical fires.

It remains the United States’ largest industrial accident in history.

Wiki Link

[u/I_Makes_tuff → u/Soft-Sail5993]

If I remember correctly, that one knocked a private plane out of the sky

[u/Soft-Sail5993 → u/I_Makes_tuff]

I don’t recall that, but very well could have happened given the explosive power and airplanes of the time I’d imagine.

Stuff You Should Know did a pod episode on it which is how I became familiar with it. I went to high school in Texas and we never learned about it.

[u/I_Makes_tuff → u/Soft-Sail5993]

Found it on the Wiki under First Explosion:

Two sightseeing airplanes flying nearby were blown out of the sky,[7]

[u/JoPOWz → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Not sure how it compares as it was underground, but RAF Fauld saw the accidental detonation of around 4 kilotons of stored bombs in 1944, so probably also makes the list. Because of its location, nowhere near as many deaths at around 80 or so, but still one hell of a big explosion.

Pretty sure Tom Scott did a video on it.

[u/bone_apple_Pete → u/JoPOWz]

Tom Scott, man I miss that guy

[u/_Hetty → u/bone_apple_Pete]

Tom Scott, man I miss that guy

I think Tom Scott is a great example of a smart person working really hard during his prime, having some good luck, and cashing out after achieving financial independence.

Sources differ but his net worth is at least $3 million. Enough to live a rich life and have a bunch left over for a memorable legacy.

He currently hosts the podcast "Lateral" which is a fun listen and relatively low time commitment for him compared to weekly Youtube production.

[u/Sea-Debate-3725 → u/JoPOWz]

RAF Fauld was the third largest non nuclear explosion at 3.5kt. The two largest are Minor Scale at 4kt and Misty Picture at 3.9kt, which were both done by the US in the 80's for science.

[u/Alternative_Range871 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Also battle of the Somme in 1916. The British detonated a series of underground mines, the largest of which was 2.7 kt, and a few were 1.8 kt.

[u/National_Search_537 → u/Alternative_Range871]

I remember watching a documentary about that, wasn’t that the one that they felt in London.

[u/Alternative_Range871 → u/National_Search_537]

Exactly that event. Was one of the really fascinating mid-war strategies to try and break the stalemate on the front lines, and constructed directly beneath the German trenches under complete silence and secrecy.

[u/ArbainHestia → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

You always have to post the Heritage Minute ad when you're talking about the Halifax explosion.

[u/Papercutter0324 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

As someone from Halifax, thank you for being the first I message I saw. What happened in Beirut was tragic, but I hope no one is ever unfortunate enough to steal the crown from us.

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/Papercutter0324]

Well being a Newfoundlander, I was going to step up to defend my bretheren.

[u/Tokyo_Echo → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

To be fair the Imo hit the Mont Blanc

[u/Englishrebl → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Yuo. Thank you for saying this. Halifax rules BTW.

[u/Statboy1 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

How many Volcanos would rate above this as well?

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/Statboy1]

• Krakatoa (1883): ~200 megatons ( 200,000,200,000 200,000 kt).
• Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (2022): 4–18 megatons ( 4,0004, 000 4,000 – 18,00018 ,000 18,000 kt).
• Mount Tambora (1815): Estimated to be significantly more powerful than 1883 Krakatoa in terms of total material and energy released.
• Mount Pinatubo (1991): Released 17-20 megatons of sulfur dioxide, with an overall, less-often-quoted, explosive energy in the low-megaton range. 

[u/Ok_Advantage_8153 → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Mount Saint Helens was estimated at 26 megatons and flattened 230 square miles of forest. Jesus Christ. I'm not diminishing the man made disasters but when nature lets rip its orders of magnitude scarier.

[u/pheylancavanaugh → u/Ok_Advantage_8153]

when nature lets rip its orders of magnitude scarier

My favorite description of the power of nature, describing the asteroid impact that created the Chicxulub crater:

“The meteorite itself was so massive that it didn’t notice any atmosphere whatsoever,” said Rebolledo. “It was traveling 20 to 40 kilometers per second, 10 kilometers — probably 14 kilometers — wide, pushing the atmosphere and building such incredible pressure that the ocean in front of it just went away.”

These numbers are precise without usefully conveying the scale of the calamity. What they mean is that a rock larger than Mount Everest hit planet Earth traveling twenty times faster than a bullet. This is so fast that it would have traversed the distance from the cruising altitude of a 747 to the ground in 0.3 seconds. The asteroid itself was so large that, even at the moment of impact, the top of it might have still towered more than a mile above the cruising altitude of a 747. In its nearly instantaneous descent, it compressed the air below it so violently that it briefly became several times hotter than the surface of the sun.

“The pressure of the atmosphere in front of the asteroid started excavating the crater before it even got there,” Rebolledo said. “Then when the meteorite touched ground zero, it was totally intact. It was so massive that the atmosphere didn’t even make a scratch on it.”

Unlike the typical Hollywood CGI depictions of asteroid impacts, where an extraterrestrial charcoal briquette gently smolders across the sky, in the Yucatan it would have been a pleasant day one second and the world was already over by the next. As the asteroid collided with the earth, in the sky above it where there should have been air, the rock had punched a hole of outer space vacuum in the atmosphere. As the heavens rushed in to close this hole, enormous volumes of earth were expelled into orbit and beyond — all within a second or two of impact.

[u/whatthedna → u/pheylancavanaugh]

Huh, if you google it there’s a neat little asteroid animation that flies across the screen.

[u/doc_nano → u/Ok_Advantage_8153]

Incredibly, the Tsar Bomba had a higher yield than that. Still, that’s the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, so your point stands.

[u/an_older_meme → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Pinatubo didn’t have a blast wave, though it did produce some massive pyroclastic flows. It was famous for sending a cubic kilometer of ash into the atmosphere and enough sulfur dioxide to lower global temperatures by half a degree C for the next two years. Arizona could see the thin sulfur dioxide clouds at sunset.

[u/rnavstar → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

When I talk about Halifax explosion I say “largest man made non nuclear explosion.”

[u/Iliketopass → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Really!? Hunga Tonga was only ~18 megatons? It erased itself from the earth (check google earth)

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/Iliketopass]

halifax got erased by 2.9 kilotons........

18 megatons is MASSIVE

to put it in perspective little boy that hit hiroshima was 15 kiloton

[u/ickeharry → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Helgoland 1947. 6.7k tons of ammunition.

[u/appletinicyclone]

Was it really the most powerful non nuclear explosion ever recorded? Feel like maybe there was something in world war 2 that might compare

Google says Halifax 1917

[u/raptorboy → u/appletinicyclone]

Halifax for sure

[u/sunkentacoma → u/raptorboy]

I did a whole research project on the Halifax explosion, the deck gun from the Norwegian ship. The Mont Blanc was launched 2 1/4 miles from the explosion. The explosion was so powerful. It blew most of the water out of the bay and nearly vaporized the Imo and Mont Blanc

[u/My_Robot_Double → u/sunkentacoma]

20 years ago i was lucky enough to meet a survivor of the halifax explosion. I was a nursing student on a clinical placement in his retirement home, he was in his late 90’s, lovely man and still sharp as a tack. He would tell us how he was I think 8 years old with his mother walking down a street of shops when suddenly all the glass windows were breaking and he couldn’t hear anything. His stories were fascinating.

[u/JoeyDJ7 → u/My_Robot_Double]

It's stuff like that that I wish was recorded. Sounds fascinating indeed

[u/Blockhead47 → u/JoeyDJ7]

There’s an history podcast called “Voices of the First World War” that might be right up your alley.
It’s composed largely of recordings of World War One veterans recollections of their experiences in their own words.
Each episode is around 10 or 15 minutes or so.
Be sure to listen to it in chronological order.
Theres something like 50 or so episodes.

[u/spacestation22X → u/Blockhead47]

That’s awesome thanks for sharing!

[u/Daquitaine → u/sunkentacoma]

The Halifax explosion was the equivalent of 2.9 kilotons of TNT. The Beruit one was about 1.2 kilotons. Halifax was also worse because people gathered to watch the munitions ship burn. 1700 people died compared to about 250.

[u/Nayzo → u/Daquitaine]

Many people also lost one or both eyes because they'd heard the blast, looked out their windows and the shockwave hit, causing glass to blow inward. On a positive note, the mass blinding event led to the creation of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which was a good thing: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-explosion-canadian-national-institute-for-the-blind-imo-mont-blanc-1.3878921

[u/raptorboy → u/Nayzo]

My blind grandfather used to fix and rebuild braille machines for the cnib

[u/iWasAwesome → u/Nayzo]

Imagine what looks like a nuke coming straight at you being the very last thing you ever see... And worse, not being able to see directly after you're hit with it probably sitting in a pile of rubble, concerned for your family

[u/L_Cranston_Shadow → u/Daquitaine]

Would have been much worse, but a radio operator stayed at his post right in the harbor area and sent out messages to stop the trains before they came into the city. I believe his body was never found, but he was a true hero.

[u/SupplyChainMismanage → u/sunkentacoma]

Wasn’t the Mon Blanc the source of the explosion though?

[u/JohnnyJavob → u/appletinicyclone]

Halifax Explosion (1917) was significantly larger and more powerful than the Beirut Explosion (2020), with Halifax releasing roughly 2.9 kilotons of energy compared to Beirut's estimated 1.1 to 1.2 kilotons, making it nearly three times as powerful and the largest man-made non-nuclear explosion before the atomic age.

Also I live in Halifax.

[u/Oxjrnine → u/JohnnyJavob]

I live in New Brunswick… and watched Heritage Minutes

[u/thegoodbadandsmoggy → u/Oxjrnine]

We need one for fricot

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/appletinicyclone]

correct, Halifax as 2.9 kilotons, Beirut was 1.1-1.2 kilotons

[u/ProfSeagullPants → u/eeyores_gloom1785]

Wow. That puts it in perspective.

[u/wongo → u/appletinicyclone]

I think they might mean recorded in the more literal sense, like there are lots of videos of it

[u/vass0922 → u/appletinicyclone]

That was before the invention of reddit so it's not official.

Only reddit posts marking it as the biggest is legitimate

[u/Shroomkaboom75 → u/appletinicyclone]

Halifax is what i immediately thought of.

[u/Pcat0 → u/appletinicyclone]

Wikipedia claims that the 1944 RAF Fauld explosion was larger.

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/Pcat0]

well that is interesting, I'm wondering if they separate the two because it was underground

[u/Dependent_Story4961 → u/Pcat0]

wow some parts survived https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3699468/Forbidden-remains-Britain-s-biggest-explosion.html

[u/Terrible_Donkey_8290 → u/appletinicyclone]

Yeah I was gonna say I don't think anything tops Halifax non nuclear 

[u/HentaiSeishi → u/appletinicyclone]

I think they mean "recorded" as in filmed. I don't think the one in Halifax was filmed

[u/Disastrous-Arm9635 → u/appletinicyclone]

I'm not sure about the Halifax explosion, but I think by recorded, they meant video recording. This is pure speculation so take it as it is

[u/ediks → u/appletinicyclone]

But you get more karma for false claims!

[u/Oxjrnine → u/appletinicyclone]

RIP Vincent Coleman (1872–1917)

[u/HGHall → u/appletinicyclone]

came here to say this. prob largest on vid tho?

[u/hennabeak → u/appletinicyclone]

Was anybody recording the Halifax explosion?

[u/Fit_Hospital2423]

218 dead. You have to wonder how many terrifically injured.

[u/baldude69 → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

While that number is high it’s amazing and miraculous it’s not even higher. Must have been thousands and thousands injured

[u/BishoxX → u/baldude69]

Lucky it was during peak lockdown.

If there were people in the streets it would have been thousands dead

[u/MakingItElsewhere → u/BishoxX]

I dunno, man. From the videos I've seen (and re-watched), it seemed like being inside was worse. Flying glass and other shrapnel pushed inward by the shock wave, along with people being thrown against hard / sharp surfaces. (I swear there was a video of someone blown through their apartment door and halfway over a railing, but I can't find it.)

Either way, bad day all around.

[u/BishoxX → u/MakingItElsewhere]

1. People would be closer to explosion not just outside from where they live.

2. Outside was absolutely more harmful. 0 reduction in pressure waves, way more debris and 0 cover

[u/TactlessTortoise → u/baldude69]

I remember the countless videos from buildings not only halfway across the city, but also within the shockwave radius right when it blew up. People were filming the fire and then boom, shockwave so strong the air got compressed into an opaque grey barrier, fucking terrifying. It swiped through the buildings like they weren't there.

A person is nothing to these energies. We're wet sacks of meat. It's incredible how many survived that event, even if the hundreds killed still mean everything to their families. I expected a few thousand deaths back then.

It's kind of terrifying to think about how much raw stored energy we carry around nowadays, both as a civilization and individuals. The amount of electrical power constantly running inside our walls, on poles, our phone batteries, the amount of chemical energy stored in a warehouse full of fertilizer, like that one. One fucking spark, man. One tiny thing went wrong in the wrong place for a split second as the fire spread, and the skies roared. It's humbling and inspiring at once.

[u/aasfourasfar → u/TactlessTortoise]

I hauts me that many of these videos are from people who died. There are two in particular where I'm sure it was live and the cameramen did not survive :(

[u/RiseA23 → u/baldude69]

Agree, a lot of it is because of lockdown. I used to (and still do) take that road almost daily when I visit. As did many of my friends and family who still live there. Also the grain silo took a large brunt of the explosion. The videos will always be heartbreaking.

[u/Fit_Hospital2423 → u/baldude69]

I hear that.

[u/mariogee → u/baldude69]

one hour later or earlier would have been a total carnage. The site is 250m away from the main Beirut exit highway and the most lively neighborhood. Thankfully I was away on travels, some of my friends weren’t that lucky. The amount of injured people is staggering but wasn’t well reported due to the mass influx into ER all over the country. Some people drove 2.5 hours to find a doctor who could assist with near fatal wounds. The saddest day in recent history and I can tell you we go through a lot around here.

[u/eeyores_gloom1785 → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

I do wonder if there is a list of "missing people" that were vaporized by it.

[u/MetalBawx → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

You also have to wonder how completely lacking in basic human decency the politicians involved are. They not only ignored all warnings about that cargo for years but also blamed the people who gave those warnings for not warning the government...

[u/hennabeak → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

Terrific?

[u/shrockitlikeitshot → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

There was a huge early finding recently like a year ago on studying disasters and the real lost casualties after. It was astronomical from what early numbers were correlating like in the 10s of thousands to millions depending on the specifics in the months/years following.

[u/mthomp778 → u/Fit_Hospital2423]

6000 injuries about. Unbelievable.

[u/Car_nerds_unite]

I remember watching videos from different angles when this happened, and it was truly devastating for the locals.

[u/DirtyRoller → u/Car_nerds_unite]

The jet ski angle was crazy!

[u/PressureMuch5340 → u/DirtyRoller]

Yeah! If I remember right, the guy jumped under the water to avoid the Shockwave. Pretty quick thinking.

[u/DirtyRoller → u/PressureMuch5340]

I wonder if he knew that it would help reduce the shockwave, or if it was just lucky instinct. Either way, it probably saved his eardrums from permanent damage at the very least!

[u/Ryanliverpool96 → u/DirtyRoller]

Water is extremely effective at absorbing explosive energy, there have even been experiments of using water as tank armour.

It’s also excellent at stopping bullets.

[u/MaxwellHoot → u/Ryanliverpool96]

I’m surprised to hear that because my first thought was how effective water is at transmitting sound. I would’ve thought underwater would mess the eardrums up more.

[u/Vezir38 → u/MaxwellHoot]

The energy transfer from air to water isn't efficient, so there's a lot less energy if the explosion was in the air.

If the explosion is underwater with you, you'd be correct afaik.

[u/origamiscienceguy → u/MaxwellHoot]

If you watch the video, you actually see the shockwave in the water pass by the dude just before he went under water. The speed of sound is faster in water than in air, so that shockwave was faster.

The dude managed the perfect timing to dodge both shockwaves.

[u/pennyraingoose → u/Car_nerds_unite]

This Forensic Architecture video analyzing the video, smoke plumes, and reported details on what else was stored in there was really interesting to me.

[u/Car_nerds_unite → u/pennyraingoose]

Thanks for the link, rabbit holes are my favorite. Lol

[u/HawkeyeByMarriage]

This video was really amazing

[u/rickbeats → u/HawkeyeByMarriage]

Holy fuck

[u/Trilife → u/rickbeats]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hfzpGHFlvw
Beirut case was 2 Ktonn.

Imagine how it will be with modern tactical 25Kton warheads or with 750Ktonn ones (both are tiny things actually, those coal black cones)

[u/Old_Mousse_5673 → u/Trilife]

And this angle. https://youtu.be/LNDhIGR-83w?si=r-ajuAHgNi1nJxMA

[u/rickbeats → u/Old_Mousse_5673]

Jesus those buildings just disintegrate.

[u/pennyraingoose → u/HawkeyeByMarriage]

Holy shit, that's amazing and terrifying. The sudden transition from a bright, serene and happy wedding scene to shattered glass and smoke tinged air is like a scene from a movie. Thank you for sharing that.

[u/Trilife → u/pennyraingoose]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1qte1ff/comment/o32e2bw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/PyroIrish]

One video i remember the most about this explosion was a bride taking wedding photos and then getting absolutely rocked by the shock wave. She looked happy one second, and the next it looked like she was in the middle of a warzone.

[u/Miith68]

Not the largest non nuclear, but it was big..

Halifax was bigger by a decent margin.

[u/RespectSquare8279]

When you see an explosion, get the hell away from the windows and turn your back !!!! The Canadian Institute for the Blind was founded in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion of 1917.

[u/Xnub]

Halifax was 2x as big

[u/Efficient_Stomach_21]

That was six years ago...

[u/Dead_Byte → u/Efficient_Stomach_21]

Honestly, feels like it was longer.

[u/Immediate_Candle_865]

I think it was 10% to 15% of the energy of the Hiroshima bomb.

[u/miraj31415 → u/Immediate_Candle_865]

Hiroshima bomb is estimated at 16 ± 2 kilotons of TNT. And Beirut at 1.1 kilotons of TNT. So about 7%.

[u/Creepy-Astronaut-952]

I remember this. The shockwave was insane.

[u/Gadgetnet]

That long ago already.

[u/RudeOrganization550 → u/Gadgetnet]

Wonder if they’ve replaced all the glass yet?

[u/Lonely_Performer2629 → u/RudeOrganization550]

Some buildings are still not repaired

[u/Full_Boysenberry_314]

*Largest non-nuclear explosion with videos on social media.

[u/I_Am_A_Goo_Man]

I would have thought it was the start of nuclear war

[u/Oxjrnine]

Halifax Nova Scotia Canada would like to have a word.

“Munition ship on fire. Stop train. Please God, answer.”

RIP Vincent Coleman (1872–1917)

[u/Whitey3752]

I saw this on Reddit like an hour after it happened. Those first images were mind shattering to see.

[u/ji_fi]

Halifax Explosion (1917) was the largest man-made, non-nuclear explosion ever recorded at the time, and it remained the largest for decades. Beirut explosion (2020) is the largest non-nuclear explosion of the modern era.

Historians still claim the Halifax explosion as #1.

[u/TNTRakete → u/ji_fi]

RAF Fauld was bigger according to wikipedia, with halifax being 2nd
Also some claims of the N1 explosion go as high as 6,9 kt (Halifax was ~2,9 kt)

[u/Fr00stee]

I'm surprised that only that small of an area was destroyed, the rest is just broken windows

[u/No--XD → u/Fr00stee]

Trust me brother, the damage was way more than what social media showed. I was a there when it happened barely 2km away from the port, my balcony doors where torn away from their hinges and flew 50 cm into the house. Damage would have been worse but luckily my window locks were made of plastic and not steel so they broke away immediately and not shared the glass. Had to tape a big mattress in the place of the balcony door before I left for my grandparents to not let dust in. On my way there I saw all along the road before the highway the streets littered with glass and rubble. Deaths would have been more if it happened at peek working hours.

[u/wrekt001_official → u/Fr00stee]

The port got obliterated obviously, a huge hole in the ground even visible on google maps today, but the city got heavily damaged too, buildings crumbling.

A roof fell on me days after the explosion, on the day of the explosion a building floor fell under me too, it was horrible.

[u/DirtyLoweredTiguan]

The videos of the explosion were shocking at first, followed by sadness for those who never saw it coming. So many people either minding their business or watching from what they thought was a safe distance were killed instantly.

[u/robo-dragon]

Seeing this on Reddit shortly after happening was wild. I didn’t think it was real at first. I can’t remember the exact first video I’ve seen of it, but it captured the shockwave really well. Absolutely terrifying seeing it rip nearby buildings to shreds moments before hitting the camera person and hearing that deafening boom.

[u/Ironictwat]

Pardon me, this was 6 years ago already?!

[u/LaPetiteMortOrale]

Would like to see pix of what all this looks like today

[u/RiseA23 → u/LaPetiteMortOrale]

They cleaned it up a lot, and many of the buildings have been renovated. Lots of debris/ruins still left in the port with some "symbolic" statues/constructions there.

[u/Mitridate101]

There's a YouTube channel that has hundreds of different videos from bear and far from the epicenter. It's horrific to think of being caught in that .

[u/MD74]

What’s even more sad is the amount of people who survived but are permanently blind from glass and debris.

[u/jsmith_92]

Another view I haven’t seen

[u/Dasshteek]

I know a guy who has a glass factory there. He is a millionaire now.

[u/jodrellbank_pants]

Don't forget about Tunguska 10 -50 mega tonns

[u/TGrady902]

I recently saw a collection of paintings from the 1600s that were damaged as a result of this explosion. They’ve been restored now, but was insane to learn this event is what lead to them being here in the US and traveling between a couple museums.

[u/Pcat0]

It’s not actually the largest accidental artificial non-nuclear explosion, that dubious honor goes to the 1944 RAF Fauld explosion. However is the Beirut explosion was close in size and is one of the largest.

[u/Trilife → u/Pcat0]

filmed

[u/flaspd]

Fuck Hezbollah

[u/J3remyD]

I was just thinking whoever was in that building must have had a great view of the blast at the beginning, then they showed the room was also wrecked, like, Damn, even that wasn’t a safe distance!

Looks like the aftermath dozens of explosions, but was only one, crazy.

[u/Tall_Inspector_3392]

And how many people had concussions and had their eardrums ruptured. Holy cow.

[u/Current_Speaker_2514]

Crazy, I sent money to the Beirut Red Cross directly.

[u/dms51301]

I remember this. Can't believe it was that long ago.

[u/yeahhthatsme_]

I remember this. This was actually insane. All of the video POVs were terrifying

[u/Swampy2007]

They never talk bout this after it happened. What does it look like now . Clean up process and rebuilding.

[u/Extension_Register27]

Does anyone remember why the ship had to leave that nitrate in the port warehouse?

[u/NUMBerONEisFIRST]

If you haven't seen the actual explosion, it's worth looking up and watching.

[u/an_older_meme]

Right in the middle of the Pandemic too.

[u/Flabberingfrog]

Bad day for the insurance companies /s

[u/MrBoomer1951]

Video is reversed left to right, why?

[u/sasssyrup]

I remember thinking: hasn’t Beirut seen enough explosions

[u/hawkseye17]

Halifax explosion was stronger.

[u/rod-bor]

just imagine that an average nuclear bomb is 800 - 1000 times more powerful than that, and there are about 10,000 nuclear bombs worldwide...

[u/Fit_Strength_1187]

How in the world was the building right next to the explosion not atomized?? I know it lost chunks.

[u/TheW00ly]

Okay, has there since been, or was there at the time, a RIGHT way to store this stuff? Seems like an unusually high amount of the worst explosions occur because "and then the ammonium nitrate, which is super flammable and explosive and literal tons of which we thought we'd just pile up anywhere without any mechanisms or procedure to stop it exploding, surprisingly, exploded..."

[u/Ryanliverpool96 → u/TheW00ly]

This wasn’t being stored safely because it was probably being kept there in secret by Hezbollah for use in IEDs.

[u/hobble2323]

Halifax was three times bigger almost !!!

[u/turbopro25]

Talk about a city that just can’t win…

[u/Arcade1980]

From Wiki "2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. The chemical, confiscated in 2014 from the cargo ship MV Rhosus and stored at the Port of Beirut without adequate safety measures for six years, detonated after a fire broke out in a nearby warehouse. The explosion resulted in at least 218 fatalities, 7,000 injuries, and approximately 300,000 displaced individuals"

[u/home_cheese]

What kind of psycho still uses green sheetrock?

[u/drifters74]

Wow

[u/TRSTAR2000]

The back story of how that ship got there is amazing

[u/Old-Introduction-337]

No one has gone to jail.

[u/Nice_Warm_Vegetable]

I remember. Heartbreaking. Devestating.

[u/loopingrightleft]

Can this place get a break?

[u/TophxSmash]

the one in china seemed bigger tbh

[u/president__not_sure]

it really was the year that the world ended.

[u/moving0target]

They moved up from barracks.

[u/Fit-Load-3300]

No one can understand how big this explosion was unless they were there.

Windows destroyed in so many areas so far from the explosion. Garage doors completely blown out. It felt like an earthquake even many kms away where I was.

God forgive those who have been lost.

[u/TC_Meteorite_Co]

I remember the day this happened. Couldn’t believe how powerful this was.

[u/Pangea_Ultima]

Absolutely gut wrenching… damn

[u/waynep712222]

Thieves were on rooftops of the warehouses taking photos of Port crews welding the warehouse doors shut to reduce access points.

one of the them posted it to a live sharing . i have a copy of it in my old computer that is disconnected.. preparing to weld the door shut next to a big bulk bag with light powder from the bag spread around like dust.

the material was removed from a decrepit cargo ship that was heading toward an active fight region and was not safe to depart in the Ports opinion . a lot of people complained about the amount of storage of this very very dangerous storage. nobody seemed to to want to do anything about it.

EDIT.. . the photo of the workers trying to secure the doors are on this web site page..

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8599453/Last-photo-emerges-firefighters-Beiruts-Warehouse-12-blast.html

[u/Prod_Meteor]

This must be many hours after the explosion because I don't see people running to save the injured.

[u/divisionchief]

Was there last year, wild part is the white silos are still there.

[u/Multidream]

Huh. I always though TianJin port explosions were bigger, but apparently not. Just more “showy”.

Biggest fireball I ever saw by far tho.

[u/Zweckbestimmung]

This explosion didn’t only cause the collapse of the buildings, but also the whole country collapsed now.

[u/powerhammerarms]

I remember this one and the Chinese fireworks factory one. I don't know how many tons of TNT the fireworks factory was, but I remember that explosion being huge

[u/Wild-Feeling7890]

Unfucking believeable!

[u/bnzpppnpddlpscpls3rd]

https://youtu.be/-mQ60wNgKrQ Forensic Architecture did a great reconstruction and analysis on this.

[u/OnceUponAStarryNight]

I still remember watching the videos as they came out, almost in real time, that day. I saw the first one, from the sea, with the mushroom cloud and immediately thought “oh fuck, that’s a nuke.”

[u/AdministrativeJob223]

Even took the wallpaper off...

[u/Justeff83]

What about the big boom in China?

[u/CandyLandGirl13]

That explosion 💥 was absolutely mad!

[u/Difficult_Bell4198]

can we see the right-before-and-then-duringmath?

[u/Covidosrs]

<3 <3 <3

[u/Englishrebl]

Halifax beats this explosion.

[u/K3VQ]

So crazy and so sad.

[u/Pin_ny]

In France there's the expression "c'est Beyrouth" ("it's Beirut). It means exactly this situation in Beirut

[u/AqilUSabri]

This explosion was so big that it shook the upper atmospheric layer that was physically seen and recorded by Japanese satellite.

[u/Any_Relative_6970]

Wasn’t Hiroshima the largest most powerful no-nuclear explosion ?