Beirut blast: Massive explosion shakes Lebanon's capital

**Johann du Toit** · 05-08-2020, 14:48

https://www.foxnews.com/world/explos...capital-beirut

This is disturbing. Apparently the death toll is in the hundreds, with thousands homeless and possible food shortages looming.

This is also a warning that unsafe storage of fertilizers like Ammonium Nitrate (if this was in fact a tragic accident) can have catastrophic consequences.

**tobie** · 05-08-2020, 15:02

Tragic indeed, I only glanced at headlines and saw a video of the blast. I wonder if this was a Hezbollah stash?

**Raz313** · 05-08-2020, 19:30

Very sad. Apparently customs seized it 6 years ago and it was being stored there while the court case continued. Hospitals are already overwhelmed with covid cases.

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**A-R** · 05-08-2020, 20:06

Originally Posted by Raz313

Very sad. Apparently customs seized it 6 years ago and it was being stored there while the court case continued. Hospitals are already overwhelmed with covid cases.

The story I got, from a friend who works with explosives for a living, is that they siezed a ship load of Ammonium Nitrate (fertilizer) and stored it in that wharehouse. Then it somehow caught fire...

**DeVilliers** · 05-08-2020, 19:45

Wow

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**Vaal** · 05-08-2020, 20:57

Originally Posted by DeVilliers

Wow

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I don't know about bombs/explosions but that crater looks very suspect to me. If something on the surface explodes, will it leave such a deep crater?

**SeanG** · 06-08-2020, 10:14

Originally Posted by Vaal

I don't know about bombs/explosions but that crater looks very suspect to me. If something on the surface explodes, will it leave such a deep crater?

I read , i think was on EWN website, that the explosion was a fifth the size of the Hiroshima blast. Will try find link.
Not sure how true that is.

**atunguyd** · 06-08-2020, 22:45

Originally Posted by SeanG

I read , i think was on EWN website, that the explosion was a fifth the size of the Hiroshima blast. Will try find link.
Not sure how true that is.

Yeah I can believe that. Not sure how Ammonia Nitrate compares to TNT but the Little Boy bomb was the equivalent of 18 000 Tons of TNT so 3000kg of Ammonia Nitrate could be a fifth of little Boy.

Scary thing is that modern hydrogen bombs are measured in tens of mega tons so they are 1000 times bigger than Hiroshima.

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**treeman** · 06-08-2020, 23:06

Originally Posted by atunguyd

Yeah I can believe that. Not sure how Ammonia Nitrate compares to TNT but the Little Boy bomb was the equivalent of 18 000 Tons of TNT so 3000kg of Ammonia Nitrate could be a fifth of little Boy.

Scary thing is that modern hydrogen bombs are measured in tens of mega tons so they are 1000 times bigger than Hiroshima.

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Yes my last readings led me to understand that no nuclear type weapons today measured less than a 1000 x Hiroshima

**Steven001** · 07-08-2020, 07:55

Originally Posted by atunguyd

Yeah I can believe that. Not sure how Ammonia Nitrate compares to TNT but the Little Boy bomb was the equivalent of 18 000 Tons of TNT so 3000kg of Ammonia Nitrate could be a fifth of little Boy.

Scary thing is that modern hydrogen bombs are measured in tens of mega tons so they are 1000 times bigger than Hiroshima.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba