ba booom

https://www.cp24.com/world/massive-explosion-rocks-beirut-no-casualties-reported-1.5050500

The twitter videos are insane if you can find them..   

Wow. That's big. I wonder what happened. Thankful nobody was hurt.

In reply to tuna55 :

multiple sites say it was a warehouse that stored firecrackers/fireworks...  

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to tuna55 :

multiple sites say it was a warehouse that stored firecrackers/fireworks...  

That seems fishy. That pressure wave hit all at once. It wasn't a bunch of them rapidly, it was one giant explosion. What could have caused them all to go off at once?

In reply to tuna55 :

Reports are a fireworks warehouse.  Might make sense considering the secondary explosion

tuna55 said:

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to tuna55 :

multiple sites say it was a warehouse that stored firecrackers/fireworks...  

That seems fishy. That pressure wave hit all at once. It wasn't a bunch of them rapidly, it was one giant explosion. What could have caused them all to go off at once?

I saw one Twitter user say they thought it was a missile from a jet. 

Who knows in that part of the world.

 

In reply to tuna55 :

I'm not gonna comment. Only what I've read.  The pink color coming from the explosion in other vids would indicate some sort of chemical going up. 

z31maniac said:

tuna55 said:

Fueled by Caffeine said:

In reply to tuna55 :

multiple sites say it was a warehouse that stored firecrackers/fireworks...  

That seems fishy. That pressure wave hit all at once. It wasn't a bunch of them rapidly, it was one giant explosion. What could have caused them all to go off at once?

I saw one Twitter user say they thought it was a missile from a jet. 

Who knows in that part of the world.

 

I saw that as well, but I think that's bigger than a missile could accomplish

https://twitter.com/i/status/1290679120465199104

Better view that shows fireworks during initial blast:

In reply to STM317 :

I was going to mention I just saw a video where there was clearly fire before the explosion- but what you posted was much, much better.  And by better, I mean showing what happened- terrible thing to happen.

In reply to STM317 :

That one does look like fireworks initially. Then some rather large explosion. Maybe that's just the equivalent of a few million fireworks worth of powder all in one thing?

If they're storing fireworks maybe the air was a little heavy with stuff that's not exactly stable in the presence of large amounts of oxygen...

Ever see the San Diego July 4 fireworks all go off at once in 2012? With all of them together, it looks more like a bomb with some sparkliness and less like a firework than I expected. 

A factory? Yeah, I believe that this could be a fireworks factory. Don't forget it was also daylight, so much harder to see the colors.

If it was a fireworks manufacturing plant... 

See the grain silos next to the fire?  That can't have helped.

I thought it was at a port? 

Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) said:

If it was a fireworks manufacturing plant... 

I work in explosives here in the states, so there may be a huge difference between here and Lebanon, but as soon as a fire starts there are a E36 M3load of fire prevention methods.  That doesn't always help though

https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/bae-spokesperson-explosives-detonated-after-roof-caught-fire-in-january-2019-holston-ammunition-explosion/

https://www.journalsaint-francois.ca/explosion-chez-general-dynamics/

Wow.  Reporting 10 deaths.  That number is bound to increase.  Some they'll never find.  Thoughts and prayers.

Wow.  The shockwave was... Impressive

1988RedT2 said:

Wow.  Reporting 10 deaths.  That number is bound to increase.  Some they'll never find.  Thoughts and prayers.

I'd have to say it will increase by a lot. That big hotel-looking building next to it has to have been completely obliterated. Even the cars on the highway in the foreground look to have been caught in the shock wave.

Terrible thing to see. 

There have been videos of fireworks factories going up in China, and they resulted in very large explosions. No sure why but I suspect it's a relatively slow explosion (e.g. not high speed explosives).  If you think of each box of fireworks like a grain of gunpowder in a bullet casing, that might be an analogy.

The pressure wave had to deadly to a good distance by the look of it.

Also.... that part of the world... I am a bit surprised there is much demand for recreational explosives (they tend to get a lot of the non-recreational type).

aircooled said:

Also.... that part of the world... I am a bit surprised there is much demand for recreational explosives (they tend to get a lot of the non-recreational type).

Hypothetically speaking, I've seen a few fireworks in this country.  None of them were made in the USA.  I bet they export nearly everything they make.

Damn... that shockwave seemed strong enough that even the vehicle occupants on the highway might not have survived. 

aircooled said:

There have been videos of fireworks factories going up in China, and they resulted in very large explosions. No sure why but I suspect it's a relatively slow explosion (e.g. not high speed explosives).  If you think of each box of fireworks like a grain of gunpowder in a bullet casing, that might be an analogy

Temperature as well as pressure helps with explosions.  If the boxes are all on fire and the temp is right one box going off can be the pebble that starts the avalanche.

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

Damn... that shockwave seemed strong enough that even the vehicle occupants on the highway might not have survived. 

Yes. That shockwave, being incredibly visible, was amazing. It was like an instant cloud developing at the speed of sound in a sphere.

I saw a rumor that there was a storage facility for large quantities of Ammonium Nitrate. If true, that means that this was basically Oklahoma City, but accidentally, and probably bigger.