Massive explosions in Tianjin, China

[Encyclopedia]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33896292

Apparently a shipment of explosives blew up according to Chinese media.



Unbelievable.

I sincerely hope casualties will be minimal. I fear that will not be the case though.

 

[Dennisch]

Holy hell. That's some massive fireworks.

 

[DK]

Chinese state news has already reported seven deaths and at least 300 injured so far, according to the link in the OP.

 

[homeforsummer]

Chinese state news has already reported seven deaths and at least 300 injured so far, according to the link in the OP.

Given the size of the bang, seven deaths seems optimistically low.

 

[Wiegert]

Just saw one video uploaded by RT that looked to have been filmed at an unsafe distance well within the blast radius...

Good lord.

 

[Dan]

My god. That's horrifying. I worry that the death toll is going to be a lot more than 7.

 

[Encyclopedia]

My god. That's horrifying. I worry that the death toll is going to be a lot more than 7.

Considering how densely populated it seems to be, it would be a miracle if only 7 people died.

 

[JKgo]

...Wowsers. I nearly soiled my pants watching that. Looks like Aliens invading or something.

Hopefully not too many got caught in that massive blast...

 

[Dennisch]

Just saw one video uploaded by RT that looked to have been filmed at an unsafe distance well within the blast radius...

Good lord.

I saw that too, you can see the shock wave blast its way through a fence right in front of the camera.

 

[Encyclopedia]

I saw that too, you can see the shock wave blast its way through a fence right in front of the camera.

Yeah I saw that too. Not looking good for the person filming.

 

[Dan]

Link to the RT video?

 

[huskeR32]

I think they're probably referring to the first clip in this -

Scary stuff.

 

[Encyclopedia]

Yeah that's the one.

Couple of aftermath pictures.

 

[Dan]

I think they're probably referring to the first clip in this -

Scary stuff.

That's terrifying. I feel so bad for everyone. Every time I see the explosions, I want to say "Get away from the windows" in case they shatter from the shockwave.

Yeah that's the one.

Couple of aftermath pictures.

Completely unrelated, but what cars are those? Modified VW Beetles?

 

[Northstar]

Modified VW Beetles?

They are now.

 

[Liquid]

Wow. That second video. Just wow.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

That is something that just blew me away. Absolutely chilling to watch, and the aftermath pictures are really haunting.

 

[McLaren]

There's some shocking footage on Liveleak from a security feed that shows a man looking out the entrance of a store just seconds before the blast radius hits, forcing everything back upon him & another person, and cutting the feed. Doesn't actually show any deaths, but one could easily assume the worst.

 

[The Bman]

I would have thought a nuke detonated with a blast that big. Damn, was that massive.

Hoping for the best possible to come from this situation, hopefully no more casualties than those already mentioned. Absolutely terrifying.

 

[Carlos]

The video McLaren is talking about. It is not really that shocking to see but knowing what probably happened to them (just before the blast, another guy on the left comes around the corner) makes it a bit hard.

 

[McLaren]

I would have thought a nuke detonated with a blast that big. Damn, was that massive.

Hoping for the best possible to come from this situation, hopefully no more casualties than those already mentioned. Absolutely terrifying.

I read the tremor from the 2nd blast was something like 21 tons of TNT. Apparently, a tremor from the atomic bombs dropped in WWII were around 17,000 tons.

 

[FoRiZon]

Holy crap. Thats like the shipment getting hit by a freaking missles!

 

[Carlos]

Live updates https://www.reddit.com/live/veh2e41lp0he

 

[Robin]

The video footage is insane, it did kinda have the look of a small nuclear blast to it, the pictures look post apocalyptic In such a densely populated area its amazing that hundreds of people didn't die. It will be interesting to find out how this actually happened.

I also wonder how long it will be for the inevitable conspiracy theories start...

 

[lxmmy]

Even watching the video, you can sense how monumental and scary the explosions are.

My thoughts go out to the families affected.

 

[Dennisch]

It seems that shooting in landscape mode isn't taught in China.


There is now a team of chemical and nuclear specialists working at the blast site, apparently a lot of nasty stuff blew up together with everything else.

 

[Robin]

The death toll has risen to over 40, 12 of which were firefighters.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I would have thought a nuke detonated with a blast that big. Damn, was that massive.

Hoping for the best possible to come from this situation, hopefully no more casualties than those already mentioned. Absolutely terrifying.

As @McLaren says Not even close to something on an A-Bomb scale...

According to the BBC website

"The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the magnitude of the first explosion was the equivalent of detonating three tonnes of TNT, while the second was the equivalent of 21 tonne"

Hiroshima was 16,000 tonnes and Nagasaki was 21,000 tonnes. From Wiki on Nagasaki "The explosion generated heat estimated at 3,900 °C (7,050 °F) and winds that were estimated at 1,005 km/h (624 mph)"

edit: MOABs are closer to this at 11 tonnes TNT blast yield.

 

[nick98]

Seriously, when I first watched the explosion, I felt shivers down my spine. The first explosion seemed already bad enough, but the second... Good lord, 7 times larger than the first one? Man, that's why I don't want to work with highly flammable substances in the first place.

 

[Robin]

BBC news showed the side of a container on a lorry which had been bent inwards along the whole side of it, can you imagine the force involved, and it was sheltered by an underpass