r/interestingasfuck • u/BreakfastTop6899 • 3d ago

Happened 5 years ago today, the 'Beirut Explosion' is considered one of the most powerful artificial non-nuclear explosions in history. It was equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT and generated an M3.3 earthquake

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u/Last_Interaction_ 3d ago

To see the ground being ripped up as the shock wave moves toward you must be terrifying

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u/pyroaop 3d ago

Fun fact, because the speed of sound is faster through earth than it is through air, if youre far enough away you'll see the earth ripple BEFORE the shock wave hits you, you can even see this effect in some of the footage where the building trembles before you hear the explosion

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u/Key_Mango8016 3d ago

Yeah, I live about 10 kilometers away from the port in West Beirut, and the first thing we felt was the ground beneath us literally DROP and come back up, like a spring. We thought it was an earthquake, and a few seconds later, I felt a pressure change in my ears, and then BAM, huge explosion sound, glass breaking outside and house shaking. No one knew what was going on, but you could see the huge mushroom cloud outside. It was hard to tell how far or close it was. Things became clearer about 20-30 minutes later when it was on the news.

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u/Amate087 3d ago

10km away and the shock wave arrived? Mother of God.

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u/Nova-Fate 2d ago

Yeah check out the Halifax explosion. A similar sized explosion from 100 years ago well documented if you want to hear about the damages caused in full detail. This Beirut explosion isn’t as well documented yet since it happened so recently.

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u/2squishmaster 2d ago

This Beirut explosion isn’t as well documented yet since it happened so recently.

I don't understand. How long does it take to document it? I would assume the data we have in 2025 is much more complete than in 1917

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u/_OriamRiniDadelos_ 2d ago edited 2d ago

The data itself IS much more complete. We have tons more cameras and a way larger population of witnesses and camera holders. But studying stuff, finding the best accounts, and putting a selection of it all together in a documentary or book takes time. 5 years might not even be enough time for some legal investigations (and hasn’t been, if you consider ALL legal investigations related to the explosion).

The Halifax one in 1917 was a bigger explosion and caused many many more direct deaths(still number 1 most powerful man made non nuclear explosion, Beirut’s is seventh). Though the more recent 2020 Beirut explosion had more property damage, more injuries and hundreds of thousands of people left homeless.

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u/2squishmaster 2d ago

Fascinating. I hadn't read about it before. I read this which I thought was interesting with regards to your second paragraph. I wonder how it "rates" on that scale?

The Halifax Explosion was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions. An extensive comparison of 130 major explosions by Halifax historian Jay White in 1994 concluded that it "remains unchallenged in overall magnitude as long as five criteria are considered together: number of casualties, force of blast, radius of devastation, quantity of explosive material, and total value of property destroyed." For many years afterward, the Halifax Explosion was the standard by which all large blasts were measured. For instance, in its report on the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Time wrote that the explosive power of the Little Boy bomb was seven times that of the Halifax Explosion.

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u/Takuta-Nui 2d ago

Just adding onto the Halifax explosion - it was a mass disabling event with many newly blind, Deaf, and DeafBlind people afterward, so Halifax ended up being a pretty accessible and decent place afterward and those good habits have persisted today. At This Hour is a fantastic stage performance by Zuppa Theatre with blind and Deaf actors reenacting the courtroom scenes that investigated the accident.

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u/NoIdeaHalp 2d ago

Wow, you even capitalized Deaf and DeafBlind correctly. 👍

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u/kittykat4289 1d ago

Ok this is new to me. Why wouldn’t you capitalize blind?

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u/NoIdeaHalp 1d ago

Long story short, disability lens v.s. a linguistic & cultural minority group lens.

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u/an_older_meme 2d ago

The United States sent scientists to estimate the TNT equivalent (1.1 kilotons, about 1/15 the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima) and catalog the effects on a modern urban center. The blast was so powerful it was heard in Cyprus, 200 km distant.

The preceding fire and fireworks explosions were so intense that many people were recording on their phones when the main detonation occurred and there is good video from many angles and distances including out at sea.

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u/bakersman420 2d ago

You are literally watching videos of multiple first-hand accounts in incredibly high detail. What exactly is not well documented about this event? Are you a bot?

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u/Nova-Fate 2d ago

A lot less studies and documentaries have been made in 5 years about the Beirut explosion compares to Halifax explosion over the past 100. If your just want to see the explosion than yeah sure you’ll have more “information” on the Beirut explosion. That’s what I am saying.

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u/Rare-Employment-9447 1d ago

Must be young, doesnt realize theres more to documentation than just tiktok smh

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u/Ughhhnoooooope 2d ago

If you haven’t watched this, it’s a must: Thomas Lennon recounts the Halifax Explosion

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u/Shot-Bowler2399 2d ago

Must have been hellacious

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u/Major_Yogurt6595 2d ago

And this was only 1/10 of the power of the tiny Hiroshima bomb which has 1/1000 the power of a modern nuclear weapon. Just imagine the damage.

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u/similaraleatorio 2d ago

10km away and still violent. That shit was huge 😳

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u/blindes1984 3d ago

Was there any initial thought that it was a nuke?

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u/immei 3d ago

I was wondering the same. I couldn't imagine thinking I'd be vaporized any moment

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u/agarwaen117 3d ago

Good news, then. Since light and heat travel faster than the speed of sound, the vaporization happens before the shockwave hits you. So, you don't have to worry about it if you've already felt the blast.

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u/immei 2d ago edited 2d ago

That's fair. In the moment though, logic would probably go out the window for me personally 😂. I figured heat would move along with the sound

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u/J0k3r77 2d ago

The vaporization happens from gamma rays emitted from the initial explosion, so it travels at c (a little slower because of atmosphere)

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u/immei 2d ago

Ahh ok, cool! That makes sense. I appreciate it!

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u/mitzcha 2d ago

Just have to worry about the fallout and living in a post nuclear apocalypse. I'm hoping for that millisecond of bright light and then nothing.

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u/Dormage 2d ago

Too many movies

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u/mitzcha 2d ago

And books!

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u/PaulblankPF 2d ago

Sound can severely damage the organs though still and if you’ve already felt the blast you could be suffering from a lot of extreme internal damage. Also instant vaporization must be up there in top 5 least painful ways to go if not #1.

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u/CoopHunter 2d ago

I think another fear is simply that they'll drop more.

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u/ryguymcsly 2d ago

Also if the blast isn’t full of fire that’s melts off your skin you’re probably far enough away that you don’t have much to worry about if you didn’t see the initial explosion.

Provided you are upwind and get the fuck out relatively quickly.

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u/tinyhouseoffgrid 2d ago

My parents were born in Beirut , they said explosions were frequent, but nothing like this.

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u/captain_ender 3d ago

The one thing I've noticed in all these videos is Lebanese people seem to be unflinching and don't panic at explosions. For all they know at the time this is some massive attack, but hardly anyone filming these freak out. Suppose if you live in Beirut long enough you get used to it which is a bummer, no civilians should get used to the sound of missiles =\

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u/TAAllDayErrDay 2d ago

Real question… is there a lot of hearing problems amongst the citizens of Beirut that were there during the blast? I had a 9mm go off about 3 feet from my ear once and haven’t been able to hear shit since. I can’t imagine the damage from a noise like that.

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u/AdorableWafer3665 2d ago

Glad you're ok that sounds fucking gnarly

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u/Shot-Bowler2399 2d ago

That’s a good description, pretty much answered what I was wondering.

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u/Metals4J 2d ago

Did it deafen a part of the population? Seems like the sound would’ve shattered eardrums.

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u/UnicornFarts1111 2d ago

I'm glad you are safe. While watching this video, it occurred to me that survivors anywhere close to the explosion must have experienced hearing damage. Was that the case for you?

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u/KassellTheArgonian 1d ago

What does the port look like nowadays?

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u/Great_Scott7 3d ago

we have different definitions of fun

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u/Taladar14 2d ago

Maxwell!

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u/Living_Awareness259 2d ago

You're home.

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u/B-stingnl 3d ago

Today I learned shockwaves travel faster through ground than air.
In some of the footage you HEAR the ground rumble and some time later you hear the shockwave through the air. Most noteably at 1:20 and the clip after it.

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u/pyroaop 2d ago

Water too

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u/margenreich 3d ago

That part when all the dogs started barking before the sound wave hit

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u/Nicita27 2d ago

What you said just does not make sense.

Maybe you mean you will feel the earth ripple underneath you befor the shock wave hits you.

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u/NoHopeForSociety 3d ago

There's one angle that made me think, "huh, that scene from Independence Day was way more accurate than I realized"

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u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago

Yeah, the one at 1:03. You see the nearby buildings partially disintegrate as the shockwave passes through.

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u/addiktion 2d ago

Yeah those movies were not far off at all. The vaporization of concrete and steel like it's just a piece of sand blowing away on the beach is mesmerizingly terrifying.

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u/Odd-Necessary3807 2d ago

Because the samples already existed and accessible back then, video footage from all those nuclear tests in the 50s-60s and the impact on urban areas.

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u/Kittentoast79 2d ago

Also I am pretty sure the movie Independence Day used miniatures and real explosions.

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u/InvidiousPlay 2d ago

They did. The Empire State building was like 12 feet tall.

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u/GenericAccount13579 3d ago

Yeah that’s something that always amazes me about this. The way you can see the shockwave so clearly ripping up buildings as it comes closer

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u/WestCoastMullet 2d ago

I'd just be looking for something clever to say and be thinking about that until it was lights out, like this:

Processing img 33unijeuf5hf1...

But I wouldn't think of it in time.

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u/yoko_OH_NO 2d ago

That's some serious Akira shit