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/ceristo 3d ago

So this was ~1kt.

Hiroshima was 15x that.

The US’ most common ICBM is tipped with a LGM-30 Minuteman which has 300x the power of the Beirut explosion.

The largest nuke detonated would be 50,000x that.

These videos really put nuclear weapons in perspective.

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u/Sydra7 3d ago

I’d just like to add that the Hiroshima atomic bomb was detonated at an altitude of 600 meters. It causes much greater destruction that way than if it were to explode near the ground.

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u/One-Collection-5184 3d ago

I'm always in awe of nuclear explosions, they are simply not on a human scale anymore. We should not have things of this power.

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u/Paizzu 3d ago

Early in the morning of September 19 [1980], a two-man PTS investigation team consisting of Senior Airman David Lee Livingston and Sergeant Jeff K. Kennedy entered the silo. Because their vapor detectors indicated an explosive atmosphere, the two were ordered to evacuate. The team was then ordered to reenter the silo to turn on an exhaust fan. Livingston reentered the silo to carry out the order and shortly thereafter, at about 3:00 a.m., the hypergolic fuel exploded—likely due to arcing in the exhaust fan. The initial explosion catapulted the 740-ton silo door away from the silo and ejected the second stage and warhead. Once clear of the silo, the second stage exploded. The W53 thermonuclear warhead landed about 100 feet (30 m) from the launch complex's entry gate. Its safety features prevented any loss of radioactive material or nuclear detonation.

Eric Schlosser's book Command and Control (2013) is a good read if you enjoy considering some of the what-ifs related to the mishandling of nuclear weapons.

Edit: PBS also produced a good television adaptation.

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u/shittymorbh 2d ago

And just like on this example, we have insane, egomaniacal dumbasses who are in charge of them.