PEPCON chemical plant explosion - GIF

[DIYSwede]

There was also some fuel added to nearly 4000 metric tons of oxidizer:
assuming a welding-caused small fire start and subsequent ignition of a natural gas leak from a 30+ years old pipeline running below,
which then ruptured from the first blast adding LNG to the last blasts.
"The facility also had a 16-inch (41 cm) high-pressure gas transmission line running underneath it,
carrying natural gas at 300 psi (2.1 MPa) gauge pressure."

Yield was 1 TJ, or equivalent to 1/4 kT of TNT,
putting it at # 11 amongst the largest accidental (non-nuclear) man-made explosions (yet).

About half of the Beirut explosion in Aug, 2020 (getting in at # 6).

3.5 on the Richter Earth Quake magnitude (logarithmic) scale.

Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larges...EPCON_disaster