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posted by takyon on Wednesday August 12 2015, @11:00PM   Printer-friendly

Breaking: Massive Explosions Rock China's Tianjin

At least two major explosions tore through Tianjin in eastern China on Wednesday night. According to Xinhua, the shockwaves from the blasts "were felt kilometers away" and shattered windows.

Chinese media reports indicated that the blasts occurred around 11:30 p.m. local time. People's Daily tweeted that the "quake" from the blast was "felt 10 km away." In a separate tweet, People's Daily cited the China Earthquake Network Center as saying that two explosions had occurred within 30 seconds, one magnitude 2.3 ML (or Richter magnitude) and [the] other magnitude 2.9 ML.

The number of casualties is still unknown; Xinhua's official report (issued at around 3 a.m. local time) noted "at least 50" people injured, while the official Twitter account of People's Daily said a local hospital "has received 300-400 injured." No deaths have been confirmed as of this writing, but two firefighters have been reported missing.

Update: People's Daily is now reporting 13 dead.

There were conflicting reports as to the cause of the blast. Initial speculation suggested the cause was gas or oil-related, possibly connected to the liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal in Tianjin. By around 3 a.m. local time, official Chinese media sources were reporting that the explosion started at a warehouse in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, where "dangerous goods" were being stored.

CCTV had the most specific information, citing the Tianjin Public Security Bureau as saying that the explosion occurred at the Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics Co. Ltd, "which handles the transport of hazardous goods." Xing Zheming of CCTV America said the first explosion involved flammable materials; the second involved oil.

Update: People's Daily reports that a representative from Rui Hai is being questioned in connection with the explosion.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Tork on Wednesday August 12 2015, @11:08PM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 12 2015, @11:08PM (#221983)
    I saw the video of this earlier. It's terrifying!
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  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday August 13 2015, @01:00AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 13 2015, @01:00AM (#222041)
    ... funny? What the hell?? No, I was not making a joke about it. I saw two videos today. The first created a shockwave that took several seconds to arrive at the home of the man with the camera. It's a shock that his windows didn't break! I saw another video a little while later of a man walking through a doorway only to see it poof up into dust and debris. That man may very well be dead, and he certainly didn't see it coming.

    Mod my original comment anything else, even troll, just please don't leave it as 'funny'.
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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by AnonTechie on Thursday August 13 2015, @06:19AM

    by AnonTechie (2275) on Thursday August 13 2015, @06:19AM (#222138) Journal

    Additional coverage provided by BBC [bbc.com]

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  • (Score: 2) by Hartree on Thursday August 13 2015, @06:53AM

    by Hartree (195) on Thursday August 13 2015, @06:53AM (#222150)

    Unless I miss my picture interpretation of the photos on the BBC site, the blast happened just across the street from the port police station and fire department.

    Even at 11 pm at night, both those places would be manned. The police station is now just a blown out shell and I can't tell if the fire station is still standing for all the smoke in the picture.

    Link to the page with pictures: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-33844086 [bbc.com]

  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday August 13 2015, @11:44AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Thursday August 13 2015, @11:44AM (#222232) Homepage

    No kidding. One video looks exactly like something out of a Michael Bay film. The explosion occurs, then you can catch 2-3 frames of the fireball pushing through a wall or building ahead of the view before the camera gets dropped.

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    • (Score: 2) by cafebabe on Thursday August 13 2015, @03:03PM

      by cafebabe (894) on Thursday August 13 2015, @03:03PM (#222331) Journal

      One video looks exactly like something out of a Michael Bay film.

      It reminded me more of a bad Neal Stephenson novel [wikipedia.org]. In particular:-

      Initial speculation suggested the cause was gas

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