>>10207939 PB
>>10208059 PB
ok, again not specifically an explosives expert. just a chemist. if the report of 2700 tons of NH4NO3 is accurate, that could give a sizeable yield. the max amt of energy released would be 0.448 GJ/ton or ~ 1,234.5 GJ of energy, which is slightly more than 1/10th the yield of an equivalent mass of TNT. so that quantity of NH4NO3 would be approximately equivalent to 290 tons of TNT. but from what i am able to find in references more reliable than wikipedia, the detonation of NH4NO3 would not be efficient, and that number is a theoretical max. the actual yield would be less. still... a couple hundred tons of TNT (0.2 kilotons, or 0.0002 megatons) is a pretty big firecracker. just spitballin' i'd say it's not inconsistent with the damage. while true that there have been a number of explosions at NH4NO3 mfgr plants, they nowhere near the explosion seen in beirut. the only industrial accident in the US anywhere near that massive was in 1947 in texas.