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[strafer]

just saw this. Heart breaking...



reports are that the fireman in this exchange survived

If I don’t come back, My father is your father
Remember to visit my mother’s grave

This got me. Shit.

 

[Homeboyd]

https://www.reddit.com/live/veh2e41lp0he? (live updates from multiple sites)

Apple Daily (hong kong newspaper) saying at least 200 dead, 120 of those involved in rescue efforts

 

[colafizz]

Is this atomic bombs aside the largest man made explosion every seen? It's unreal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions

There have been, much, larger

 

[sturmdogg]

Here's a compilation video. The first one is terrifying how the camera just cuts out, they were very close to the explosion.

https://youtu.be/nQwRMGa4jsU

Felt sorry for the kid in the last part. Hope it wasn't his parents that were lying on the ground

 

[CountAntonius]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions

There have been, much, larger

That blows my mind. Thanks for the link. This is interesting stuff.

 

[Forerunner]

Is this atomic bombs aside the largest man made explosion every seen? It's unreal.

No, there have been other larger non-nuclear explosions. Such as Minor Scale.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Fireman:
If I don’t come back, My father is your father
Remember to visit my mother’s grave

Friend:
OK, your dad is my dad
Please take care

Oof.

 

[Represent.]

was this one posted? NSFW for language but maybe the most impressive/terrifying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhsOXdomPNU

cant stop watching it, the power... unreal

so sad...

Holy FUCK. that is insane. DAMN

 

[Extra Sauce]

let's all laugh and joke at people dying...
that's not funny

I'm not going to say it was a particularly tasteful thing to post in this thread but "laughing at people"? That's a leap in logic.

 

[Ovid]

was this one posted? NSFW for language but maybe the most impressive/terrifying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhsOXdomPNU

cant stop watching it, the power... unreal

so sad...

That looks like the end of the world.

Geez that's terrifying.

 

[Xcellere]

I hope that if one thing comes out of this, it's that clear instructions at chemical storage facilities are posted to indicate what materials need to be used to extinguish fires. It's likely the use of water is what caused the primary explosions here, and the fireman were completely unaware of it. This could have been easily prevented.

 

[kirblar]

This is not the same. China is on a whole different level than the USA. The USA has the EPA, the CSB, the FDA, OSHA, etc. breathing down the necks of industry, and they are very strict.

China has safety regulations but they don't enforce it very well at all because enforcement falls on local government, and those local government officials are corrupted by money.
In Tianjin, you can hardly see buildings two street blocks down from you due to chemical plant pollution due to lax regulation enforcement and dirty coal production. That's astronomically worse than anything in Texas.

Zoning is a serious issue with these types of things- Ithere was that big explosion in Texas (I think it was a fertilizer plant) that devastated a town because they had no restrictions on where to place industrial vs housing.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Is this atomic bombs aside the largest man made explosion every seen? It's unreal.

This explosion is very large (21 tons) but it's actually quite small relative to the largest non-nuclear manmade explosions so far

Some examples of the largest non-nuclear manmade explosions:

• N1 Launch Explosion (1969) - 7,000 tons (Russian rocket explosion)
• Minor Scale/Misty Picture (1985-87) - 4,800 tons (US tested large scale conventional explosions)
• Royal Navy Test "British Bang" (1947) - 3200 tons (British Navy testing conventional explosives)
• Halifax Explosion (1917) - 2900 tons (French ship loaded with war explosives crashed with another ship in the harbor)
• Texas City Disaster (1947) - 2700-3200 tons (French ship loaded with ammonium nitrate detonated due to a fire on board)

And for reference some tonnage of nuclear explosions:

• Tsar Bomba (1961) - 50,000,000 tons (Largest Russia ever detonated)
• MK-17/MK-41 (1950's) - 25,000,000 tons (Largest USA ever detonated)
• Fat Man (1945) - 20,000 - 22,000 tons (Bomb dropped on Nagasaki)
• Little Boy (1945) - 13,000 - 18,000 tons (Bomb dropped on Hiroshima)

So while this is a large explosion at 21 tons and the number of casualties will most likely go up, humanity has had far larger accidental explosions and sadly far larger than that intentional ones

 

[CountAntonius]

This explosion is very large (21 tons) but it's actually quite small relative to the largest non-nuclear manmade explosions so far

Some examples of the largest non-nuclear manmade explosions:

• N1 Launch Explosion (1969) - 7,000 tons (Russian rocket explosion)
• Minor Scale/Misty Picture (1985-87) - 4,800 tons (US tested large scale conventional explosions)
• Royal Navy Test "British Bang" (1947) - 3200 tons (British Navy testing conventional explosives)
• Halifax Explosion (1917) - 2900 tons (French ship loaded with war explosives crashed with another ship in the harbor)
• Texas City Disaster (1947) - 2700-3200 tons (French ship loaded with ammonium nitrate detonated due to a fire on board)

And for reference some tonnage of nuclear explosions:

• Tsar Bomba (1961) - 50,000,000 tons (Largest Russia ever detonated)
• MK-17/MK-41 (1950's) - 25,000,000 tons (Largest USA ever detonated)
• Fat Man (1945) - 20,000 - 22,000 tons (Bomb dropped on Nagasaki)
• Little Boy (1945) - 13,000 - 18,000 tons (Bomb dropped on Hiroshima)

So while this is a large explosion at 21 tons and the number of casualties will most likely go up, humanity has had far larger accidental explosions and sadly far larger than that intentional ones

I can't even comprehend what those others must have been like.

 

[NaM]

• Tsar Bomba (1961) - 50,000,000 tons (Largest Russia ever detonated)

• 
  
  what the....

 

[Slayer-33]

https://www.reddit.com/live/veh2e41lp0he? (live updates from multiple sites)

Apple Daily (hong kong newspaper) saying at least 200 dead, 120 of those involved in rescue efforts

Damn...

 

[superdeluxe]

Only 44 deaths with those explosions?

Looks like most of the biggest devastation happened in an Industrial area at night.

 

[elty]

Given that it is China, there should be some apartment building right next to the warehouse, because they don't give a shit about safety.

I highly doubt only 50 died, typical Chinese government.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Zoning is a serious issue with these types of things- Ithere was that big explosion in Texas (I think it was a fertilizer plant) that devastated a town because they had no restrictions on where to place industrial vs housing.

If I am thinking of the same one as you when that plant was built it was 15 miles outside of town.

It was the town that built it's way to the plant, not the other way round.

 

[johnny956]

Given that it is China, there should be some apartment building right next to the warehouse, because they don't give a shit about safety.

I highly doubt only 50 died, typical Chinese government.

Yea one newspaper there is saying 120 firefighters and police alone died. It seems like more and more aren't buying the numbers

 

[SwiftDeath]

I can't even comprehend what those others must have been like.

You can read up on the Halifax Explosion and the Texas City Disaster as they are somewhat similar as they were explosions by a port although they are both around 100 times larger than this one assuming the figure we've been quoted is accurate.

Reading about Halifax and Texas City make me utterly terrified of nuclear weapons as you're talking about thousands of times more powerful than either of those tragedies

what the....

Tsar Bomba and Castle Bravo* are probably some of the craziest things humans have ever done. I mean

*Castle Bravo is actually the largest nuclear device the US ever detonated at 15,000,000 tons [smaller than the MK-17's and MK-41's which I guess have never been detonated]

 

[Divvy]

If I am thinking of the same one as you when that plant was built it was 15 miles outside of town.

It was the town that built it's way to the plant, not the other way round.

Well regardless, the fertilizer plant was across the street from an elementary school and a high school, and down the road from a nursing home and hospital. So either way, there was a failure of zoning legislation.

 

[Confrontation]

what the....

The shockwave circled Earth 3 times apparently.

 

[Damaniel]

what the....

Yep. Tsar Bomba was more or less made by the Soviets to claim nuclear superiority over the West. However, it was completely useless as an actual weapon as it was far too large to transport and deploy safely. The bomb was actually designed to produce the equivalent of 100 megatons of TNT but they scaled back to 50 due to concerns about fallout.

 

[Woorloog]

what the....

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

Yep. Tsar Bomba was more or less made by the Soviets to claim nuclear superiority over the West. However, it was completely useless as an actual weapon as it was far too large to transport and deploy safely. The bomb was actually designed to produce the equivalent of 100 megatons of TNT but they scaled back to 50 due to concerns about fallout.

And because the bomber might not have survived that big a blast.

 

[papercan55]

I'm not going to say it was a particularly tasteful thing to post in this thread but "laughing at people"? That's a leap in logic.

sorry but i don't like to see joke gifs made from new disaster footage where hundreds have died, sorry to get worked up...maybe it's just me.

 

[Nivash]

Yep. Tsar Bomba was more or less made by the Soviets to claim nuclear superiority over the West. However, it was completely useless as an actual weapon as it was far too large to transport and deploy safely. The bomb was actually designed to produce the equivalent of 100 megatons of TNT but they scaled back to 50 due to concerns about fallout.

The shockwave circled Earth 3 times apparently.

Yep. The fireball was visible 620 miles away and the cloud was seven times as high as Mt Everest - it reached the mesosphere! You could feel the heat 170 miles away. Windows shattered in Norway and Finland, 560 miles away.

That thing was out of this world, you could probably see it from the moon.

 

[Epsilon-delta]

Yep. The fireball was visible 620 miles away and the cloud was seven times as high as Mt Everest - it reached the mesosphere! You could feel the heat 170 miles away. Windows shattered in Norway and Finland, 560 miles away.

That thing was out of this world, you could probably see it from the moon.

Don't forget 3rd degree burns from 62 miles away.

 

[inner-G]

what the....

https://youtu.be/aMYYEsKvHvk

 

[ODDI]

Don't forget 3rd degree burns from 62 miles away.

Well fuck my life

 

[Valkerionseven]

Just saw the cctv footage of the guy checking the fire at the glass doors, then they just fly in on him @.@

 

[superseohyun]

https://www.reddit.com/live/veh2e41lp0he? (live updates from multiple sites)

Apple Daily (hong kong newspaper) saying at least 200 dead, 120 of those involved in rescue efforts

Apple Daily is not really a reliable source. A policeman at the scene would not know the accurate death number...

 

[Faith]

Atomic bomb explosions are probably the most beautiful thing mankind ever made.

But holy shit @ this explosion in China.

 

[XGRaViSmOrSX]

The Tsar Bomba video always make me think that's what it looks like when a sun is born. Really is one of the most amazing, yet terrifying things humanity has ever created.

 

[luso]

I can't go over that "21 tons" figure, I don't totally believe it. How the hell someone calculated that so soon after explosion and without knowing much besides a couple of videos?

 

[Kinyou]

https://www.reddit.com/live/veh2e41lp0he? (live updates from multiple sites)

Apple Daily (hong kong newspaper) saying at least 200 dead, 120 of those involved in rescue efforts

Any idea how so many rescue worker could get killed? Were they already on the scene before the gigantic explosions happened?

 

[Tabris]

Oh I get it, it is a funny meme where lots of people died yesterday.

I wonder how it would be received if someone created a gif with someone running away during 9/11 with that meme.

The answer is it wouldn't be, so this shouldn't be. Not appropriate.

 

[LQX]

was this one posted? NSFW for language but maybe the most impressive/terrifying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhsOXdomPNU

cant stop watching it, the power... unreal

so sad...

Holy shit. Whoever said that looks like the end of the world were not kidding. It just kept getting bigger and bigger.

 

[SwiftDeath]

I can't go over that "21 tons" figure, I don't totally believe it. How the hell someone calculated that so soon after explosion and without knowing much besides a couple of videos?

From an earlier quote of mine, the quote of 21 tons is from the official earthquake network in China. Both explosions registered on seismographs and I believe from those results one can reasonably infer explosive force

Here and here list it as 21 tons

The first blast was equal in strength to the detonation of three tons of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tons of the explosive, the China Earthquake Networks Centre said.

Local media also reported that the large explosion was triggered by an earlier weaker one. The first was the equivalent of 3 tons of TNT, and the second was equal to about 21 tons, the report said.

 

[RadioactiveLobster]

Any idea how so many rescue worker could get killed? Were they already on the scene before the gigantic explosions happened?

From what I've heard it may have been the water they were using to try to put out the fire that caused the first explosion by reacting with certain chemicals.

 

[Nivash]

I can't go over that "21 tons" figure, I don't totally believe it. How the hell someone calculated that so soon after explosion and without knowing much besides a couple of videos?

They measured the seismic shockwave. Because the distance to the measuring station and local conditions are known I wager it's pretty accurate.

Edit: Yeah, Swiftdeath has the link.

 

[diamount]

From what I've heard it may have been the water they were using to try to put out the fire that caused the first explosion by reacting with certain chemicals.

Isn't that firefighting 101? Poor schmucks.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

was this one posted? NSFW for language but maybe the most impressive/terrifying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhsOXdomPNU

All of the flaming bits that rained down from the explosion's apex is astounding. Beautiful, although terrible and tragic.

Absolute tragedy.

 

[WinterDemons]

Any idea how so many rescue worker could get killed? Were they already on the scene before the gigantic explosions happened?

Reportedly, firefighters and police were on scene at a small - medium fire. This then spread into the local shipping depot, igniting some form of explosive which has triggered the current chain of reactions.

Also

yup it was... a surviving fire fighter said after the container being sprayed water for 10 minutes, it began to light up. Then a small explosion followed by those huge ones. His truck was responsible for providing water for the frontline truck so he luckily survived. 5 of his team mates' fate still unknow though. another fire fighter just used up his water before the explosion so he went to fill up, thus survived.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Any idea how so many rescue worker could get killed? Were they already on the scene before the gigantic explosions happened?

There was a fire before the explosions, rescue teams already were on the scene for that. Further news was that it was a chemical fire, something that was not known til hours later, they did what firefighters and first responders are trained to. All they knew was it was flammable/explosive.

They sadly switched to flame retardant instead of water after the explosions. (Pink stuff you might see in some pictures)

 

[Grazzt]

was this one posted? NSFW for language but maybe the most impressive/terrifying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhsOXdomPNU

cant stop watching it, the power... unreal

so sad...

Holy shit. Why were they laughing before the 3rd explosion?

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I can't go over that "21 tons" figure, I don't totally believe it. How the hell someone calculated that so soon after explosion and without knowing much besides a couple of videos?

The 21 tons figure comes from seismological monitoring stations.

 

[dakun]

Holy shit. Why were they laughing before the 3rd explosion?

nervous laughter...they didn't know what the fuck was going on and i doubt they thought about any loss of life until the 3rd explosion.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

nervous laughter...they didn't know what the fuck was going on and i doubt they thought about any loss of life until the 3rd explosion.

Yeah, i figured fight-or-flight was kicking in as their bodies started to get ready to run. They sounded more nervous than amused to me.

It'll take days to get a clear picture i'd imagine. So sad.

 

[FTF]

Holy shit, that's horrible and those videos are fucking scary!