This just happened. Explosion in Lebanon

[tstorm823]

Oh no, what I meant was, what incidents involving explosives top this that were in peace time and not done by a terrorist group or something similar.

To my knowledge, one incident with a ship full of TNT in Canada.

Yet, as is per usual, life shows irony in that the white building right next to the explosion still stands (If horribly disfigured).

I don't know anything in particular about buildings withstanding explosions, but I have learned some about buildings withstanding earthquakes. Part of the issue with buildings in earthquakes is that the force of the earthquake makes the ground act like a liquid and the buildings sort of ride the wave. When you ride up and down on a wave, you get tossed up and down, that not only is the force great, but also in all sorts of different directions. A lot of types of construction are built to withstand the force of gravity straight down because 99% of what the building experiences is straight down, the joints only need to hold vertical compression. Tall buildings are designed to hold some amount of force in all sorts of directions because they have to deal with wind all the time. If you imagine a kid makes a structure out of building blocks on a table, you can likely put a bunch of weight on it and have it stay up. If you instead suddenly lift and drop the table it's on, it likely crumbles. A wall made of cement and cinderblocks is a lot like that with just a little glue between the blocks. A shockwave from beneath can toss the building up, and then they separate and the whole thing falls over. I imagine that's only exaggerated by having the ground shake right before a giant fireball plows through.

 

[SupahEwok]

....Oh my god, this is aiming to be one of the biggest "OOF"s in a year full of them. How did they just keep it stored there, in a populated city center for 6 years when it's a KNOWN EXPLOSIVE?!

You'd be surprised. All it takes is one bureacrat in the decision chain to put off their part of dealing with it until later cuz they have other things to do right now, and then forgetting to go back to it. Or even being fired and he didn't leave clesr enough records of his work for his replacement to know about it. Or the replacement never got around to digging through all the unfinished work of his predecessor.

Developed countries tend to have robust enough bureacracies to have more redundancies in cases like this, but they screw up sometimes too. It doesn't surprise me that this was a bureacratic fuck up.

 

[tstorm823]

Well:
1) Accidental warehouse fire
2) Intentional fire, but accidental ammonium nitrate explosion
3) Intentional ammonium nitrate explosion

I can't see major players (states, extremist groups) doing (3) because I can't see what the benefits would be, especially compared to the reputation cost of being exposed. The port of Beirut isn't high value, or with symbolic significance, and it hurts all communities of Lebanon. Also, I'd expect them just blow up the nitrate, not start a fire and hope it spread.

Realistically, some variant of accidental warehouse/facility fire (they're hardly rare occurrences) along the lines of (1) and (2) seems the most plausible. China had a massive one a few years back. The UK and US have had them recently too, although usually far less serious because we tend to keep really dangerous stuff away from heavily populated areas.

This is the right framing. It's basically certain that the ammonium nitrate explosion was accidental, the only question is the cause of the first fire. I personally would bank on that also being accidental, but I'm not holding it against those who might speculate otherwise. There are plenty of ways to have an accidental warehouse fire, lithium ion batteries being a big one, but also plenty of nefarious things that could be done in a port warehouse without being aware of a massive explosive stockpile nearby.

 

[Aegix Drakan]

As an aside, the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was supposed to be the first step in a revolution. After it didn't happen, the conspirators ended up with little or no support, but some gunpowder that had gotten rained on, and did indeed try drying it out in front of an open fire.

No fatalities, some injuries, including one person that was blinded.

Yeah, that's EXACTLY the incident I was referencing. When I heard Overly Sarcastic Productions talking about that, I had to double check if that actually happenned. Because it boggles the mind how anyone would think that was a good idea.

 

[Agema]

Oh no, what I meant was, what incidents involving explosives top this that were in peace time and not done by a terrorist group or something similar.

Ah, gotcha. Yes, I'm pretty sure there have been larger ones. Mostly accidental explosions of ammo dumps or fuel depots/facilities. Some deliberate: I think the British tried to blow up an island after WW2 with a few thousand tons of explosives.

 

[gorfias]

They're talking of putting port officials under arrest https://apnews.com/4475998de078a93bbe91b7ac9d43ada2

 

[Seanchaidh]

Quite the explosion, to say the least.

 

[Mister Mumbler]

Yeah, I saw that video of the priest from Kwak on page 1, and I gotta say that guy was rather impressive to watch. Didn't miss a beat or stop the ceremony until glass was literally flying in. My heart goes out to the Lebanese people and i hope they can bounce back from this, but jesus. This blast used about 2000 times more ammonium nitrate than the OK city bombing.

 

[Worgen]

Philip DeFranko has done a quick dive into it.

 

[Kwak]

Philip DeFranko has done a quick dive into it.

"What REALLY happened"... Is this a conspiracy video?

 

[Worgen]

"What REALLY happened"... Is this a conspiracy video?

No, he actually does pretty good news coverage of things.

 

[SupahEwok]

"What REALLY happened"... Is this a conspiracy video?

No, but it is a Youtuber.

 

[Trunkage]

No, but it is a Youtuber.

Yep, the algorithm sure likes the words DESTROYED, SHAMED, ATTACKED or HUMILIATED a lot as well. And yes, it’s MUST be in ALL CAPS, or it doesn’t count. You just won’t get the same amount of views

 

[Trunkage]

They're talking of putting port officials under arrest https://apnews.com/4475998de078a93bbe91b7ac9d43ada2

I mean, that would be incredibly surprising. Politicians everywhere seem to get Qualified Immunity and then we wonder why Trump and Obama kill thousands with drones. Or Putin and the Saudis think they can kill journalists without consequences

 

[Eacaraxe]

Yet, as is per usual, life shows irony in that the white building right next to the explosion still stands (If horribly disfigured).

Those look (looked?) like grain silos. Wouldn't surprise me if they were, big grain silos and elevators like that are designed to withstand and contain an explosion.

 

[Tireseas]

Yet, as is per usual, life shows irony in that the white building right next to the explosion still stands (If horribly disfigured).

It should be noted that that building is a grain elevator, which, by design, need to be incredibly strong to handle the weight of the material stored there. It looks almost like the entire silo housings are made of concrete or a similar substance given the sheered open view we can get.

But the real extend of the damage is outside the port. Beruit went from modern metropolis to a post-apocalyptic hellscape in a matter of seconds. Almost every window in downtown is shattered. Two hospitals are destroyed. 90% of all of the cities hotel rooms wiped out. A photo of an office building looks like it could be any city in the US.

 

[gorfias]

I mean, that would be incredibly surprising. Politicians everywhere seem to get Qualified Immunity and then we wonder why Trump and Obama kill thousands with drones. Or Putin and the Saudis think they can kill journalists without consequences

The PM voiced words similar to my friend's. They're out for blood. Once in a while, even one of the annointed screws the pooch bad enough to pay a price.

 

[Eacaraxe]

It should be noted that that building is a grain elevator, which, by design, need to be incredibly strong to handle the weight of the material stored there.

Not that strong, depending on what's stored. Most forms of grain pack well enough that cinder block and sheet metal construction with structural reinforcement suits just fine. It's mostly down to material cost and availability, and what environmental factors need to be considered to protect the product from moisture, inclement weather, etc. Those industrial ones like that need to have the centerpieces to make them resistant to shear stress, but more relevant to this discussion, hardened to contain and redirect the force of grain explosions.

EDIT: Which speaking of,

After blast, Lebanon has less than a month's grain reserves

Lebanon's main grain silo at Beirut port was destroyed in a blast, leaving the nation with less than a month's reserves of the grain but enough flour to avoid a crisis, the economy minister said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

 

[Specter Von Baren]

To my knowledge, one incident with a ship full of TNT in Canada.

Oh right! Now I remember reading about that in a book of navel disasters before. It's things like that and this latest disaster that make me shake my head at the future of nuclear power. Even if it's "the only way forward" it's far from being "clean" energy and the more plants that get built, the more likely it is for a mistake to happen with terribly long lasting consequences. Completely non-malicious mistakes can lead to some of the worst tragedies.

Those look (looked?) like grain silos. Wouldn't surprise me if they were, big grain silos and elevators like that are designed to withstand and contain an explosion.

Oh it's just that things like the Genbaku Dome that was right under Little Boy when it exploded yet is still standing seem bizarre when you first hear about them. There's obviously reasons for why buildings survive these things but it still seems like a miracle when one just sees it.

It should be noted that that building is a grain elevator, which, by design, need to be incredibly strong to handle the weight of the material stored there. It looks almost like the entire silo housings are made of concrete or a similar substance given the sheered open view we can get.

But the real extend of the damage is outside the port. Beruit went from modern metropolis to a post-apocalyptic hellscape in a matter of seconds. Almost every window in downtown is shattered. Two hospitals are destroyed. 90% of all of the cities hotel rooms wiped out. A photo of an office building looks like it could be any city in the US.

It reminds me of the Hollywood tornado scene from The Day After Tomorrow.

 

[Fieldy409]

Not that strong, depending on what's stored. Most forms of grain pack well enough that cinder block and sheet metal construction with structural reinforcement suits just fine. It's mostly down to material cost and availability, and what environmental factors need to be considered to protect the product from moisture, inclement weather, etc. Those industrial ones like that need to have the centerpieces to make them resistant to shear stress, but more relevant to this discussion, hardened to contain and redirect the force of grain explosions.

EDIT: Which speaking of,

After blast, Lebanon has less than a month's grain reserves

Lebanon's main grain silo at Beirut port was destroyed in a blast, leaving the nation with less than a month's reserves of the grain but enough flour to avoid a crisis, the economy minister said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

Nobodies pointed out that grain silos can be explosive too when dry grain powder is floating in the air it ignites fast with a lot of energy.