NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18

Dispatches International

BEIRUT, LEBANON

Power Packed

New analysis from UK researchers describes the power of
the August Beirut explosion. By Angelo Verzoni
n analysis done by
researchers at the University of Sheffield in
England has found that
the August 4 explosion
that rocked the port of
Beirut, Lebanon, was one of the largest
non-nuclear explosions in history.
The analysis, published in the journal
Shock Waves in September, found that in
a matter of milliseconds, the explosion

A

released approximately 1 Gigawatt hour
of energy-equivalent to roughly 860
tons of TNT and enough energy to power
100 homes for an entire year, according
to a statement released by the university.
That amount of energy is the roughly the
same as the amount of energy 3 million
solar panels or 400 wind turbines can
produce over the course of a year.
"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," said
Sam Rigby, the study's lead author, in a
university statement. "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."
The analysis would likely not have
been possible without social media. As
the incident unfolded in early August,
hundreds of videos of the fire and subsequent blast were posted on Twitter,

GETT Y IMAGES

HISTORIC PROPORTIONS
The explosion that rocked Beirut in August was one
of the largest non-nuclear blasts ever recorded,
researchers have found.

18 | NFPA JOURNAL * N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0

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10/30/20 4:47 PM



NFPA Journal - November/December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020

Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 26
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 27
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 37
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 38
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 39
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 40
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 41
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 42
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 43
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 44
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 45
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 46
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 47
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 48
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 79
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover4
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