Multiple MASSIVE explosions in Beirut

[maddiel]

I heard on news this morning that the explosion was the largest non-natural (natural being like a volcano) explosion ever, other than atomic and similar bombs.

There are a lot of similarities to the Halifax Explosion of 1917 which is one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions ever. It was similar in size and seismic effect to the Beirut explosion and both happened accidentally and in a port area. I hope the damage, injuries and loss of life are less for this one.

Coincidentally we have a huge Lebanese immigrant population in Halifax. I'm sure there will be some locally-sponsored aid efforts starting up this week.

M.
(edited to put the explosion in the correct century!)

 

[Dan Murphy]

Some pretty amazing photos here.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/05/world/satellite-images-beirut-explosion-before-after-trnd/index.html

 

[abdmom]

You meant 1917. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

There are a lot of similarities to the Halifax Explosion of 2017 which is one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions ever. It was similar in size and seismic effect to the Beirut explosion and both happened accidentally and in a port area. I hope the damage, injuries and loss of life are less for this one.

Coincidentally we have a huge Lebanese immigrant population in Halifax. I'm sure there will be some locally-sponsored aid efforts starting up this week.

M.

 

[maddiel]

You meant 1917. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

Whoops! Yes I did! I'll go back and fix it.

M.

 

[GreatLakes]

It sounds like people have been raising the alarm about the dangers of the chemicals and nothing was done. While I'm glad it appears this wasn't an intentional attack it was 100% preventable.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The local news was covering that a local humanitarian company had just sent "more than 5,000 hygiene kits and hundreds of pieces of children's clothing" with many of those kits being assembled in our area and all were destroyed in the blast

The good news is they are already working on replacing that and are requesting donations from our area.

 

[NotUrsula]

There is an interesting back story that makes the criminal negligence of this situation even worse: that cargo was famous. It was on a Russian-owned ship that was impounded in the port because it was not seaworthy. The owner (one of the Russian oligarchs) abandoned it, but Lebanon would not allow the crew to quit or leave, because of the dangerous nature of the cargo; they were supposed to maintain the ship and guard it. The Russian press made the plight of the stranded crew into a cause celebre; the story was all over the Russian and Lebanese press for about a year, until a local court decided to let them go and order the port to move the cargo off of the derelict ship for safety reasons. Full story: https://www.timesofisrael.com/lead-...n-businessman-a-decrepit-ship-a-single-spark/ (this quotes a story in the NYTimes, but ToI has a less-robust paywall.)