4 ms·

Indeed. It's in the top-ten listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ammonium_nitrate_disasters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ammonium_nitrate_d

Indeed. It's in the top-ten listed at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ammonium_nitrate_disasters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ammonium_nitrate_disas... , being close to as large as Beirut 2020. Note also e.g. Texas City 1947 Though I see different estimates of the size of Oppau 1921; the material that exploded was under 500T of fertilizer (17% of Beirut), which means it should be under 250kT of TNT equivalent (I've seen AN assessed at 42% as explosive as TNT by mass). But based on crater size, it looks like estimates are more like 1-2 kT, similar to Beirut. Also, windows blown out "more than 25km away" is pretty similar in blast radius to Beirut (I've seen "15 miles" quoted, IIRC), suggesting a similar magnitude. It's actually remarkable, comparing against other blasts of similar quantities of material or less, how few fatalities there were in Beirut, especially given that it was inside the city. Brest 1947 is larger with less fatalities, but they had towed it out to sea three hours before it finally exploded. Though I think that, when it comes to non-nuclear explosions, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion is still the title-holder. What a privilege.

jacquesm 6y ago
The shape of the package prior to explosion is going to be a pretty big factor in how long the explosion took to consume all the material. A slight change in shape or density can have a large effect on what the shockwave will look like, and can make it asymmetrical. Take a roll of fast burning cord and set it on fire when rolled out: a slight fizzing and some minor damage to plants. Wrap 10 turns of it around a tree, set it on fire and you'll have a cut cleaner than the sharpest axe cutting your tree clean in half. The Halifax one is just terrible. I went to the memorial site when visiting the city just before it was removed. Incredible but true: the city lost the memorial sculpture.

jacquesm 6y ago

The shape of the package prior to explosion is going to be a pretty big factor in how long the explosion took to consume all the material. A slight change in shape or density can have a large effect on what the shockwave will look like, and can make it asymmetrical. Take a roll of fast burning cord and set it on fire when rolled out: a slight fizzing and some minor damage to plants. Wrap 10 turns of it around a tree, set it on fire and you'll have a cut cleaner than the sharpest axe cutting your tree clean in half. The Halifax one is just terrible. I went to the memorial site when visiting the city just before it was removed. Incredible but true: the city lost the memorial sculpture.