4 ms·

Explosion rocks Beirut, injuring thousands across Lebanese capital

30 points by Symmetry 6y ago

DSingularity 6y ago
Feel bad for the Lebanese. Can’t catch a break.
ChuckMcM 6y ago
This was a pretty huge explosion. It reminded me of the Thiokol rocket engine factory explosion in Henderson NV. Given how visible the shockwave is in the videos, I would guess you could get a nominal estimate of the explosion energy by calculating shockwave volume over time. The video rate of the camera would give you time between measurements, and google maps could probably provide the building distances.
- pacificmint 6y ago
  It was Pepcon[1], not Tiokol. And yes, the smoke has the same brown/orange color that you see with nitrate explosions. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster
- Symmetry 6y ago
  I'm seeing reports of it being recorded as a 3.5 magnitude earthquake which would be around 200 tons of TNT equivalent.
- nabla9 6y ago
  Locals have found news from few years back that says 2,750 tons of NOX. was confiscated and stored in the port.
  - ChuckMcM 6y ago
    Wow, if that pans out it would be exceptionally negligent to store that stuff like that. One of the things about being a military brat was that I got to see a number of ammunition storage locations which are easily recognized by their subterranean reinforced bunkers separated by distance :-)
nabla9 6y ago
It seems to have been confiscated ammonium nitrate. It had been in storage there since 2014.
- Symmetry 6y ago
  The reddish brown smoke afterwards is certainly consistent with some sort of nitrate explosion. That's the color NOX usually is.
- emiliobumachar 6y ago
  Might be the hindsight talking, but, it seems so reckless to store it in a city for so long. Do other port authorities do this?
  - dencodev 6y ago
    The list of reckless things our leaders do seems to be endless. This isn't really surprising to me.
    - TomMarius 6y ago
      Every day I understand Musk's desire for Mars more. I hope I'll be able to get a ticket. I don't think Earth can survive the next 100 years without a serious change - and the "leaders" and other "elites" are trying their best to hold on to power.
      - guenthert 6y ago
        It'll take much less recklessness tough, to take out a mars colony, once there is one. And a mars colony which can survive w/o regular support from earth is not even on the horizon.
        TomMarius 6y ago
        Which could lead to elevated responses to recklessness that we are unable to get here on Earth. Same as with other kinds of death, the faster it is, the stronger the reaction, and vice versa.
pacificmint 6y ago
A reddit thread [1] collected 10 different angles of the explosion: Angle 1: https://streamable.com/xmmoa7 https://streamable.com/xmmoa7 Angle 2: https://streamable.com/nscx9m https://streamable.com/nscx9m Angle 3: https://streamable.com/zbjj5f https://streamable.com/zbjj5f Angle 4: https://streamable.com/saoafz https://streamable.com/saoafz Angle 5: https://streamable.com/4ga1vb https://streamable.com/4ga1vb Angle 6: https://streamable.com/lmivb2 https://streamable.com/lmivb2 Angle 7: https://streamable.com/mcy82f https://streamable.com/mcy82f Angle 8: https://streamable.com/zg9oal https://streamable.com/zg9oal Angle 9: https://streamable.com/zykkj6 https://streamable.com/zykkj6 Angle 10: https://streamable.com/22e152 https://streamable.com/22e152 [1] https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/i3mb1v/large_blast_in_beirut_port_area_rocks_lebanons/g0cc3uw/ https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/i3mb1v/large_bla...
ilstormcloud 6y ago
There is conflicting report about the cause of the explosion. Some say the warehouse that caught fire was storing fireworks, others state the warehouse was storage for confiscated highly explosive materials. The Footage of the explosion looks like what a layman like me would expect a low yield nuclear explosion to look like. In any case, sad to see this happen.
- java-man 6y ago
  It does not look like a low yield nuclear explosion. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHiihPD7bLM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHiihPD7bLM [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3xywbrHS8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3xywbrHS8 1:43 mark
- throw1234651234 6y ago
  Reminds me of thermobarics, but I don't know anything about anything.

30 points by Symmetry 6y ago

Feel bad for the Lebanese. Can’t catch a break.

This was a pretty huge explosion. It reminded me of the Thiokol rocket engine factory explosion in Henderson NV. Given how visible the shockwave is in the videos, I would guess you could get a nominal estimate of the explosion energy by calculating shockwave volume over time. The video rate of the camera would give you time between measurements, and google maps could probably provide the building distances.

pacificmint 6y ago
It was Pepcon[1], not Tiokol. And yes, the smoke has the same brown/orange color that you see with nitrate explosions. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster
Symmetry 6y ago
I'm seeing reports of it being recorded as a 3.5 magnitude earthquake which would be around 200 tons of TNT equivalent.
nabla9 6y ago
Locals have found news from few years back that says 2,750 tons of NOX. was confiscated and stored in the port.
- ChuckMcM 6y ago
  Wow, if that pans out it would be exceptionally negligent to store that stuff like that. One of the things about being a military brat was that I got to see a number of ammunition storage locations which are easily recognized by their subterranean reinforced bunkers separated by distance :-)

nabla9 6y ago

It seems to have been confiscated ammonium nitrate. It had been in storage there since 2014.

Symmetry 6y ago
The reddish brown smoke afterwards is certainly consistent with some sort of nitrate explosion. That's the color NOX usually is.
emiliobumachar 6y ago
Might be the hindsight talking, but, it seems so reckless to store it in a city for so long. Do other port authorities do this?
- dencodev 6y ago
  The list of reckless things our leaders do seems to be endless. This isn't really surprising to me.
  - TomMarius 6y ago
    Every day I understand Musk's desire for Mars more. I hope I'll be able to get a ticket. I don't think Earth can survive the next 100 years without a serious change - and the "leaders" and other "elites" are trying their best to hold on to power.
    - guenthert 6y ago
      It'll take much less recklessness tough, to take out a mars colony, once there is one. And a mars colony which can survive w/o regular support from earth is not even on the horizon.
      - TomMarius 6y ago
        Which could lead to elevated responses to recklessness that we are unable to get here on Earth. Same as with other kinds of death, the faster it is, the stronger the reaction, and vice versa.

pacificmint 6y ago

A reddit thread [1] collected 10 different angles of the explosion: Angle 1: https://streamable.com/xmmoa7 https://streamable.com/xmmoa7 Angle 2: https://streamable.com/nscx9m https://streamable.com/nscx9m Angle 3: https://streamable.com/zbjj5f https://streamable.com/zbjj5f Angle 4: https://streamable.com/saoafz https://streamable.com/saoafz Angle 5: https://streamable.com/4ga1vb https://streamable.com/4ga1vb Angle 6: https://streamable.com/lmivb2 https://streamable.com/lmivb2 Angle 7: https://streamable.com/mcy82f https://streamable.com/mcy82f Angle 8: https://streamable.com/zg9oal https://streamable.com/zg9oal Angle 9: https://streamable.com/zykkj6 https://streamable.com/zykkj6 Angle 10: https://streamable.com/22e152 https://streamable.com/22e152 [1] https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/i3mb1v/large_blast_in_beirut_port_area_rocks_lebanons/g0cc3uw/ https://old.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/i3mb1v/large_bla...

ilstormcloud 6y ago

There is conflicting report about the cause of the explosion. Some say the warehouse that caught fire was storing fireworks, others state the warehouse was storage for confiscated highly explosive materials. The Footage of the explosion looks like what a layman like me would expect a low yield nuclear explosion to look like. In any case, sad to see this happen.

java-man 6y ago
It does not look like a low yield nuclear explosion. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHiihPD7bLM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHiihPD7bLM [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3xywbrHS8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3xywbrHS8 1:43 mark
throw1234651234 6y ago
Reminds me of thermobarics, but I don't know anything about anything.