Did you see that explosion in Beirut ?

[sammyg2]

blast proof cargo containers

In refineries we call them BRMs, blast resistant modules. Pretty much required in the US after the BP refinery explosion in tejas.
We don't usually bury them tho

https://www.mobilemodular.com/commercial-solutions/blast-resistant-modular#:~:text=%20EXPLOSION%20RESISTANT%2C%20CLIM ATE%20CONTROLLED%20BLAST%20RESISTANT%20MODULES,and %20modules%20are%20engineered%20to%20meet...%20Mor e%20

[TimT]

[Captain Ahab Jr]

This is an interesting read,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-53668493

[URY914]

Anyone read why there were so many cranes around the warehouse?
Being stored there maybe?

[Tobra]

That is interesting Capt, I think Hassan is a liar, from your link:

The port's general manager, Hassan Koraytem, confirmed that maintenance was conducted on the door of the warehouse before the explosion.

"We were asked to fix a door of the warehouse by State Security and we did that at noon, but what occurred in the afternoon I have no idea," CNN quoted him as telling OTV.

[MBAtarga]

Here are video's - watch the 2nd one and wait for the explosion sound.
Any idea as to how far away the video is taken from?

Wait for the sound near the end pic.twitter.com/88wRV90ILE

— RP (@RafaelPern) August 4, 2020

[Pazuzu]

Bottom was was close to 27 seconds, at 1100 ft/sec, so about 5.5 miles.
Top one is about 5 seconds, about 1 mile.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Bottom was was close to 27 seconds, at 1100 ft/sec, so about 5.5 miles.
Top one is about 5 seconds, about 1 mile.

Yep, crazy sheisse.

[Sooner or later]

Check out the videos of the Tianjin, China from a few years ago.

[Seahawk]

Very informative and interesting article with excellent visuals:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/x2iutcqf1g/beirut-blast

[TimT]

[edgemar]

Did you see the way they took care of the delelict ship that brought the cargo. They let it sink next to the breakwater. Probably a sign of things to come...

[pavulon]

Post 46 also illustrates how much faster energy moves through the ground than though air.

[TimT]

[LEAKYSEALS951]

^Here's what you do. This video plays the blast in super slo motion around 1:30/ then 2:04. Now go to youtube and put THAT into 0.25 speed and watch it. Turn down the sound. Probably the most detailed video so far. It slows down the frames enough to study each building as it gets hit.

On second though, never mind. I counted three people on the back balconies looking over the edge as the blast hit. Edit- at least five. Everyone was coming out to see what was going on and couldn't see anything. Sickening.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by pavulon

Post 46 also illustrates how much faster energy moves through the ground than though air.

Many at work are spinning their slide rules (really - get your copy of Glasstone out!) doing maths to figure out the yield - and watching these movies frame-by-frame to get the shock speed, which is a little faster than the speed of sound.

It's a rare thing to get such a view into a giant boom. Fascinating but also a tragic loss of life and damage to their economy.

It's also a sobering look into what a "limited" tactical nucular exchange would be.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by TimT

And this video is one that I believe pretty clearly shows that there were fireworks involved. They weren't what caused the main explosion, though, clearly.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by LEAKYSEALS951

^Here's what you do. This video plays the blast in super slo motion around 1:30/ then 2:04. Now go to youtube and put THAT into 0.25 speed and watch it. Turn down the sound. Probably the most detailed video so far. It slows down the frames enough to study each building as it gets hit.

Right, I've watched a bunch of the other vids in slow-mo (.25x) on youtube, and they still happen fast. This is a high quality, high frame rate, that you can then watch at .25x, and even then, I find myself pausing it and rewinding it to see it better.

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Many at work are spinning their slide rules (really - get your copy of Glasstone out!) doing maths to figure out the yield - and watching these movies frame-by-frame to get the shock speed, which is a little faster than the speed of sound.

It's a rare thing to get such a view into a giant boom. Fascinating but also a tragic loss of life and damage to their economy.

It's also a sobering look into what a "limited" tactical nucular exchange would be.

This is an amazing explosion where we've got lots of angles and recordings. I've seen some historic type explosions, but most of those aren't high-def, high-frame rate recordings from all over the place with sound like this one.

The good news is that it looks like the tallest building on the right is probably still under construction, so probably not occupied. It's scary to think that just about anyone in any of those other buildings that were on the facing side may very well have been outside watching the fire.

[Noah930]

I don't understand the fireworks comments. I see what look to be fireworks-type explosions in the seconds leading up to the big kaboom. But certainly they're not really fireworks. Is that some sort of preceding combustion of other explosively flammable materials in the same building? There's no way someone really stores super flammable stuff, like gunpowder or fireworks in the same warehouse full of ammonium nitrate, right?

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by URY914

Anyone read why there were so many cranes around the warehouse?
Being stored there maybe?

Don't know about bay-root, but around these parts we use cranes at the docks to offload stuff from ships.
Lots of em. Big ones.