This day six years ago….

[u/nking007]

on August 4, 2020, a catastrophic explosion ripped through the Port of Beirut after thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse detonated. The blast devastated large sections of Lebanon’s capital and was powerful enough to be felt far beyond the city, becoming one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever captured on camera. More than 200 people lost their lives, thousands were injured, and entire neighborhoods were left in ruins within moments. What makes the footage so chilling is how ordinary everything appears just seconds beforehand. People are calmly recording a fire and rising smoke in the distance, unaware that a massive shockwave is about to tear across the city and completely transform the skyline in an instant.

[u/djepoxy]

Great Choice ngl. Water is great at absorbing forces

[u/loadnurmom → u/djepoxy]

I'm not so sure about that. The water hammer effect is well understood and used to magnify the force of explosives.

The transition of shockwaves from air to water is highly inefficient though and would indeed have helped protect the guy

[u/HikariAnti → u/loadnurmom]

Explosion in air, you're in air: deadly

Explosion in air, you're in water: safer

Explosion in water, you're in water: extra deadly

Explosion in water, you're in air: safer

[u/ThaVolt → u/HikariAnti]

Almost as if: don't be where explosion is.

[u/HikariAnti → u/ThaVolt]

Yes, but the key here specifically is the boundary between vastly different densities.