Blather, Waffle and Poppycock!

[mmcv]

Yeah terrifying! Last report I read thought the initial fire was a fireworks or ammunition warehouse, but second huge blast looked like something far bigger, possibly chemical factory. Scary for everyone over there right now.

[Techno]

Yes, Will !!!

Stroll on, that was a VERY big explosion.
First time I saw that, I thought it was a mini nuke !
Having seen it again, I was pretty sure that I could see fireworks going off before the massive bang. Some reports are indicating it was a fireworks storage facility. Maybe it was ?

Cheers - Phil.

[Raider4]

Having seen it again, I was pretty sure that I could see fireworks going off before the massive bang.

Aye, you can see that in one of the videos.

Some reports are indicating it was a fireworks storage facility. Maybe it was ?

I can't see lots of fireworks exploding like that, all in one instant. To me that was one "thing" going whump.

[Ithoriel]

News report I heard talked of a jet passing low overhead just before the explosion. Apparently there are munitions stores as well as the fireworks factory and Israel and Hezbollah are said to be squaring up once more. Sounds like damage to property is extensive in the area and may people interviewed talked of having glass fragments in their feet and legs from all the shattered glass. I imagine casualty figures will exclude many with minor and/or psychological damage.

Here's hoping it was merely an accident.

[Raider4]

Shows up the big difference between a real and a Hollywood explosion though.

In Hollywood there'd have been a huge fireball. In real life, nothing

[Techno]

Aye, you can see that in one of the videos.

I can't see lots of fireworks exploding like that, all in one instant. To me that was one "thing" going whump.

I agree...it would be astonishing if they all went off together.

Here's hoping it was merely an accident.

Hear, hear !

What I couldn't quite get was the 'real' scale of the devastation....I assume most of the clips would have been made on phones with a relatively wide angle lens, which always stretches distances.
However....From what you could make out from all the different clips, it was a huge area !....(and beyond that, an awful lot of shattering glass, like Mike says.)

Cheers - Phil

[Ithoriel]

One of my Guild mates in the MMO I play is in Beirut, quite a way from the port, not only are all their windows shattered but their internal and external doors are matchwood too. Fortunately, he and his family are fine apart from minor scrapes and scratches.

As to the minor explosions, there are several before the main one, visible in a couple of the video's I've seen.

[Steve J]

That was a big bloody explosion that was heard as far away as Cyprus, some 150m/km away, according to the BBC. 50 dead and 2,700 injured so far

[Techno]

From what I've just read, there were around 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate being stored there.

You can make homemade explosives with that stuff.
It can also be particularly dangerous if heated in a confined space.

Hopefully it WAS a tragic accident.

Cheers - Phil

[hammurabi70]

I've piled 12 pounds back on. I'd go on a diet but I fear that, if successful, by early 2021 I'd have caused the world to end! :-)

I lost 10 pounds in the first month after retirement and an additional 10 pounds during the next eleven months.

Recommendations:

* Have a daily exercise routine; it doesn't need to be fantastic, mine is 10 minutes on a static bike plus some pilates routines involving light weights, I found the routines via the internet.  Doing it every day slowly improves your physique.
* Minimise red meat and have lots of chicken and fish; a work colleague once lost half a stone simply by avoiding red meat.
* Have a firm routine for meals, and alcohol, and find alternative stress release.  A good find has been the small wine bottles, 15% more expensive but it allows controlled drinking and avoids having to deal with a 70/75cl bottle.
* Get a daily dose of fresh air and exercise, my choice is gardening.

[Techno]

Hopefully it WAS a tragic accident.

Good grief !....Seeing the pictures today.

Thousands injured.....100+ killed (I fear that total will rise and rise, and rise)....How many missing ?....They surely won't find them all. Without wishing to seem ghoulish.....Some poor souls really close, when it went off, must have been virtually vaporised.

Truly awful situation.

Phil

[Steve J]

With the economy already on its knees, God only knows how long it will take to re-build things. Just imagine trying to replace all of the broken windows, even in somewhere like Bristol. It would take months and months, assuming you could get the glass and the frames .

[Raider4]

Aye, but did you see that bridge that collapsed in Genoa two years has already had a replacement built?

If that happened in the UK the rubble would still be in place, and a replacement would be about eight years in the future.

Same thing happened in Japan a few years ago. Road was badly damaged by an earthquake, and six days(!) later it was repaired good as new.



Although agreed, Beirut will take a lot longer to get back to normal, I expect.

[FierceKitty]

There is nothing the Japanese can't do, except perhaps say "squirrel" confidently.

[hammurabi70]

Good grief !....Seeing the pictures today.

Thousands injured.....100+ killed (I fear that total will rise and rise, and rise)....How many missing ?....They surely won't find them all. Without wishing to seem ghoulish.....Some poor souls really close, when it went off, must have been virtually vaporised.

Truly awful situation.

Phil

Appalling. Not sure about the power but as I understand it about 60 times the weight of the biggest WWI mine that was fired. No surprise that it was audible in Cyprus.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Photo of crater doing the rounds now... 

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Images of the area are coming out
https://images.app.goo.gl/GEajCNHX6doaUnkm9

https://imgur.com/a/1c7ugcG

[Techno]

I want to use the word 'awesome' to describe that explosion and its aftermath.......But definitely not in the way I'd normally use that particular word. (I hope you all understand that.)

I truly can't 'get my head around' how powerful that blast must have been. .....Sheesh !

Phil.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

It did look totally aewful (C17th usage) - I'm wondering if was an LPG ship going bang, looked very close to that tanker

[Steve J]

Wow, that is a big crater!!!