Yorkshire blast scientists map Beirut disaster
Explosion twentieth size of Hiroshima
THE massive Beirut port explosion released enough energy in a few milliseconds to power around 100 homes for a year, according to Yorkshire researchers.
A team of disaster engineers from the University of Sheffield said the blast in August was equivalent to 500 to 1,100 tonnes of TNT, making it one of the largest non-nuclear explosion sin history.
The university’s Blast and Impact Engineering Research Group made a detailed analysis of videos of the explosion posted on social media to estimate its power by tracking how the shockwave spread through the Lebanese city.
The engineers said they hope a more accurate assessment of the blast can be used to help with future disaster response planning, including by predicting the likely injuries and structural damage at various distances.
Sam Rigby, senior lecturer in blast and impact engineering, said: “The disaster that hit Beirut this summer was devastating and we hope that nothing like that ever happens again.
“This was an unprecedented event because never before has such a large explosion been so well documented.
“The reason why we decided to analyse the explosion is because as engineers it’s our jobs to use the skills and resources we have at our disposal to solve problems and ultimately to help people.”
The huge blast on August 4, killed almost 200 people and left thousands injured when 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate detonated, devastating a large swathe of the city.
The analysis, published in the journal Shock Waves, found that the explosion was around a 20th of the size of the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima in August 1945.
It found that in just milliseconds the explosion released the equivalent of around 1GWh ( gigawatt hour) of energy. That is equal to the hourly energy generated by three million solar panels or 400 wind turbines.
Videos of the initial fire, detonation and blast wave were quickly shared on social media and enabled the team to determine the time of arrival of the shock front at different distances from the source of the explosion.
They analysed 16 videos with a clear line of sight to the explosion to time the arrival of the blast at 38 positions.
Dr Rigby said: “After seeing the events unfold, we wanted to use our expertise in blast engineering to help understand what had happened in Beirut and provide data that could be used to help prepare for and save lives in such events should they ever happen again.
“By understanding more about the power of large- scale accidental explosions like the one that occurred in Beirut, we can develop more accurate predictions of how different buildings will be affected, and the types of injuries there are likely to be at different distances from the blast.”
President Michel Naim Aoun declared a three- day mourning period following the devastating explosion, with the Lebanese government subsequently resigning amid growing public anger.
Never before has such a large explosion been so well documented. Sam Rigby, senior lecturer in blast and impact engineering at the University of Sheffield.