Beirut explosion one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts

It is hoped that the new assessment from a team at the University’s Blast and Impact Engineering Research Group can be used to provide policymakers and the public with more accurate information on the blast, and help first responders prepare for future disasters.

As previously reported in The Engineer, the blast, which took place in the city’s port area, was caused by the explosion of nearly 3000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which had been stored in the vicinity for several years.

Engineering a response to the Beirut blast

By analysing videos of the explosion posted on social media, the researchers have been able to estimate the power of the blast by tracking how the explosion’s shockwave spread through the city.

The new assessment by the Sheffield engineers, which is published in the Shock Waves, found that the size of the explosion was the equivalent of between 500-1100 tonnes of TNT, which is around 1/20th of the size of the atomic bomb that was used on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and is one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. The explosion also released the equivalent of around 1GWh of energy in milliseconds.