Massive building explosion in Beirut

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Well...shit.

Here are some donation links if you want to help:
https://helplebanon.carrd.co/

[GreyICE]

Lebanese officials have now said that the August 4 explosion that devastated much of Beirut’s port area was caused by a fire in a warehouse that had been storing explosive materials, reportedly including 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/08/photos-aftermath-beirut-explosion/614968/

What the actual fuck Beruit. Ammonium Nitrate... it's always ammonium nitrate. I really hope they weren't storing it there for no reason, you store 2,700 tons of Ammonium Nitrate in the middle of a desert, in a pit, and surround it by concrete walls and a thin sheet metal roof, to try and direct the explosion upwards when it inevitably restores itself to nitrogen and water. (2)NH₄NO₃ -> (2)N₂ + (4)H₂O + O₂ is a reaction that needs no oxidizer (so the entire thing can go off simultaneously), is exothermic (so it likes to all go off simultaneously), and produces 7 mols of gas for every mol of reactant (that's bad). There's a reason we shove the shit in bombs (ANFO - 94% Ammonium Nitrate, 6% Fuel Oil - the extra O2 combusts the fuel oil for even more bang for your buck. But really the fuel oil is secondary to the main disaster, it's like extra spice).

If they really just let it sit around for years... that's criminal. Yes, it is super, super stable so it's nearly impossible to accidentally set off, but we have many examples of how far "nearly" impossible is from impossible.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

I've seen one Lebanese poster say that it was a case of government corruption/incompetence. It was supposed to be just passing through the area, instead they let it pile up and sit there to ferment. Sorta like the explanation in CHUD. I have not independently verified this, though, it's just word of mouth.

[McAvoy]

So in the end it wasn't a terrorist attack it was just pure stupidity.

Go figure.

[TGLS]

Hanlon's Razor wins again.

[GreyICE]

So in the end it wasn't a terrorist attack it was just pure stupidity.

Go figure.

Explosions that large really can't be a terrorist attack. Like terrorist smuggle in 500 lbs of bomb, wow, that's amazing, they loaded up a truck or something. Terrorists smuggle in 2,500 tons? That's 5,000,000 lbs. Yeah, no. They can't do that. 2,500 lbs of high explosive could have knocked down fifty world trade centers.

For booms that big you need industry and government.

[McAvoy]

So in the end it wasn't a terrorist attack it was just pure stupidity.

Go figure.

Explosions that large really can't be a terrorist attack. Like terrorist smuggle in 500 lbs of bomb, wow, that's amazing, they loaded up a truck or something. Terrorists smuggle in 2,500 tons? That's 5,000,000 lbs. Yeah, no. They can't do that. 2,500 lbs of high explosive could have knocked down fifty world trade centers.

For booms that big you need industry and government.

Yeah. I looked it up. It's the equivalent of of 1,800 tons of TNT going off which is about a tenth of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Holy Hecate. o_o

[ProfessorDetective]

So in the end it wasn't a terrorist attack it was just pure stupidity.

Go figure.

Explosions that large really can't be a terrorist attack. Like terrorist smuggle in 500 lbs of bomb, wow, that's amazing, they loaded up a truck or something. Terrorists smuggle in 2,500 tons? That's 5,000,000 lbs. Yeah, no. They can't do that. 2,500 lbs of high explosive could have knocked down fifty world trade centers.

For booms that big you need industry and government.

Yeah. I looked it up. It's the equivalent of of 1,800 tons of TNT going off which is about a tenth of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Appropriate, given which Anniversary just came and went.

[McAvoy]

So in the end it wasn't a terrorist attack it was just pure stupidity.

Go figure.

Explosions that large really can't be a terrorist attack. Like terrorist smuggle in 500 lbs of bomb, wow, that's amazing, they loaded up a truck or something. Terrorists smuggle in 2,500 tons? That's 5,000,000 lbs. Yeah, no. They can't do that. 2,500 lbs of high explosive could have knocked down fifty world trade centers.

For booms that big you need industry and government.

Yeah. I looked it up. It's the equivalent of of 1,800 tons of TNT going off which is about a tenth of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Appropriate, given which Anniversary just came and went.

Interesting coincidence.

Where I live, the anniversary is today and it's morning here.