17:27, 5 August, 2020
YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. The massive explosion that ripped through Beirut on Tuesday and caused havoc has generated seismic waves equivalent of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake, CNN reported citing the United States Geological Survey.
However, the magnitude 3.3 equivalent isn't, "directly comparable to an earthquake of similar size” because surface blasts don’t produce as large a magnitude as an earthquake of similar energy would, CNN reported citing Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center.
Blakeman said most of the energy in surface blasts goes into the air and buildings.
According to Lebanese authorities, 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in fertilizers and explosives, exploded in the port warehouse. The materials had been improperly stored at the port for nearly six years. What triggered the fire and subsequent blast, however, is still under investigation.
Numerous videos online showed the immensely powerful blast shockwaves devastating the area.
The blast was even heard as far as Cyprus, around 240 kilometers away.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT Areg Danagoulian said that the explosion of the more than 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate amounts to 1,1 kilotons of TNT equivalent. He said he used thermodynamics to make the analysis.
“With a rel. eff. factor of 0.4, this amounts to 1.1 kilotones of TNT equivalent — a small nuke, ~10% of Hiroshima”, he tweeted, referring to the atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy, which was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 and exploded with an energy of approximately 15 kilotons of TNT.
“To be ONE HUNDRED PRECENT clear this in no way implies that the explosion was nuclear. We are just using some thermodynamics that's common for all explosions," he added.
Beirut's governor Marwan Abboud says 200,000-250,000 people have lost their homes with damages ranging from $3-5bn, according to Al Jazeera.
According to the latest data, at least 100 people are dead and more than 4000 are injured following the blast.
Editing by Stepan Kocharyan