Talk:List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions

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[edit] It's already unwieldy, but....

The title List of the largest non-nuclear explosions is already a mouthful but nonetheless, it needs amending to include the words man made. None of the explosions in the article were as powerful or as devastating at the eruption/s of Krakatoa. Anyone agree? Moriori 00:07, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

I agree - Trevor MacInnis (Talk | Contribs) 00:30, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Go ahead. - Alureiter 01:01, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Trans-siberia pipeline explosion

I removed the Trans-siberia pipeline explosion from the article. Could be an urban legend, much indicates that all that is written about it comes from the same source. Jonathan Karlsson 10:22, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

You think Farewell Dossier is fake? The article seems to have lots of sources. I think it should be put back to the list. Kdehl 20:45, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

The dossier itself doesn't mention any explosion, let alone "the most monumental nonnuclear explosion and fire ever seen from space" - that come from the Safire newspaper story. Again, feel free to provide any confirmation that there was such an explosion. Lars T. 14:06, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Nanaimo mine explosion

The 1887 Nanaimo mine explosion might be a candidate for the list, if information supports it. Prior to the Halifax Explosion, it was the largest manmade explosion.--Westendgirl 08:43, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] PEPCON rocket fuel factory

Where does the explosion of the PEPCON rocket fuel factory in Henderson Nevada rank in the scheme of things (May 1988 i think)? I don't think it was very devastating because of it's remoteness but it was supposedly very powerful. Any info or input? [Sorry first post ever hope im doing this correctly (infiniti757)]

[edit] rfd

Frankly I think this is a silly entry, although the information is interesting. Shouldn't this simply be under "Famous Explosions" in Explosion? I mean, if anyone would look for the largest man-made non-nuclear explosions, that's were he would look. Feel free to disagree of course. Piet 13:44, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Murmansk ammo dump

There was a "major" (news report at the time) ammo dump exploded near Murmansk in the late 80's or maybe early 90's. That was reported as one of the largest ever. But I can't find a reference today to it's actuall size. Any know enough about it to add it? 6 Dec 2005

[edit] Order of entries

The entries don't seem to be in any order at present -- either date order (ascending or descending), or est explosion size, or A-Z by location should be chosen. mervyn 13:43, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree. Date seems to me to be the most sensible - it's easily obtainable and doesn't have the ambiguity of location or the possible contradictions of size. I'd prefer ascending (oldest first). If no-one objects, I'll probably do that in a day or two. Nineworlds 20:51, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

I've just sorted it newest to oldest. There's a few which don't have their own articles - the 1949 explosion in Prum, the Heligoland explosion (though that's mentioned on the linked page), and the Braamfontein explosion (ditto).

Thinking about it, Prum itself is probably borderline for inclusion - most of the modern explosions are notably greater than 500t. Perhaps move it onto the relevant page instead of here? The Braamfontein one is also pretty small, 56t, but I suppose at the time... Shimgray | talk | 18:16, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

The Japanese version of this article seems much more clear to me. Each events are sorted into decades, and have their name dates written in the first line, followed with the outline of the event. Perhaps English version can adopt this... [Madhatter]

[edit] Fuel bombs

Again, we need data on what appears to be a classified subject... Rich Farmbrough 22:58, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] wasn't there somethingh in north korea?

about a year or so back, a giant explosion was picked up on seismometers which was speculated to be a nuclear test, but north korea claimed that it was just a lot of conventional explosives being used to demolish a mountain. Wouldn't that count? or did it turn out to be nuclear? [[1]] [[2]] or was it just not-that-big? 81.102.41.34 22:51, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

See Ryanggang explosion. --Fastfission 01:58, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree with the original poster, it should be included. Evilbu 15:30, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Also, there was an explosion in Ryongchon, when a load of ammonium nitrate exploded at a train station. See this for more info. --71.227.190.111 17:22, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Silvertown explosion

Should the 1917 TNT explosion at Silvertown be listed? Warofdreams talk 10:37, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Removed entries

I've removed the following entries from the article:

15 July 1949 an explosion of 500 ton of ammunition in a underground storage made a crater in the Calvariemountain in the German town of Prüm. Stones blown away destroyed much of the houses that had just been restored from war damage. Twelve people were killed in the blast, but presumably more deaths were prevented due to an early evacuation.
Braamfontein explosion. On February 16, 1896, 56 tons of dynamite exploded on a train in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa and 78 people were killed.

Compared to equivalent incidents in the same time frame, these aren't desperately large, and the page is documenting "largest". I've left in the absolute smallest, as it's also the oldest one.... Feel free to reinstate them, though. Shimgray | talk | 22:55, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I'd also remove the sentence which says : "Similar tests were reportedly carried out in the 1970s in the far north jungles of Queensland, Australia, to test the feasibility of nuclear weapons for clearing forests in the Vietnam War." In reality there was ONE test called Operation Blowdown on 18 July 1963 at Iron Range in North Queensland. The Australian Defence Science Laboratories exploded 50 tonnes of TNT on a 43m tower to test the effect of nuclear weapons in rainforest. I think that is well below the threshold of "largest" explosions. There is a clip of the explosion on the web at <http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/operation-blowdown/> The results have never been released officially, but rumour says the explosion had very little effect on vegetation. I doubt that Vietnam was on many Australian minds when the test was planned - likely conflict with Indonesia over Malaysia or West Irian was the principal military issue at the time. Peter Bell (talk) 06:34, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] huh?

"Black Tom explosion. On July 30, 1916 1,000 tons of explosives bound for Europe, along with another 50 tons on the Johnson Barge No.17, exploded in Jersey City, New Jersey, a major dock serving New York. There were few deaths, but about 100 injuries; also, the buildings on Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were damaged, along with much of Jersey City. "

How can an explosion in 1916 harm the Statue of Liberty?

Yes that is very weird, the lady was only about thirty years old, so why didn't she duck and cover, she was still young enough!? Please read Statue_of_liberty

Yup. The statue was given by France to the US in 1885, and was inaugurated in 1886. Hugo Dufort 23:49, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Seperate list?

Might it not make sense to seperate this list into those which were accidental vs. intentional explosions (e.g. Ripple Rock)? Maybe even both on the same page, but in seperate lists. I think they're different enough subjects that they shouldn't all be lumped together like that. -- Lurlock 03:46, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Nuclear explosions should be included.

[edit] Enschede disaster

In 2000, a fireworks storage exploded.

see Enschede_fireworks_disaster

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuurwerkramp_Enschede This Dutch article has some pics. Should it be included?

Evilbu 15:26, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Oil Storage Terminal

"Since the invention of high explosives, there have been a number of extremely large explosions, many accidental. This list contains the largest known examples, sorted by date. The weight of the explosive does not directly correlate with the size of the explosion, so an accurate ranking of these explosions is impossible."

"2005 Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal fire. On 11 December 2005 there were a series of major explosions at the 60 million gallon (273 million litre) capacity Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The explosions were heard over 100 miles away, as far as the Netherlands and France, and the resulting flames were visible for many miles around the depot. A smoke cloud covered Hemel Hempstead and other nearby towns in southern Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. There were no fatalities, but there were around 43 injuries (two serious)."

Oils(hydrocarbons) are not high explosives. Dudtz 10/10/06 6:19 PM EST

[edit] No mining explosions???

All of this article is a bit academic and misleading really, when you consider that most of the largest man made conventional explosions have occured in mining operations as part of daily operations. For example, a 1kt (TNT equivalent) explosion of ANFO in a coal mine is considered "average" in some circles. Apauza 08:05, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Absolutely correct, there are economies of scale associated with explosives in certain situations, especially when you want to excavate an area and use the explosion to move the rock into a more convenient place. Every year in Australia there are mining explosions that rival Hiroshima and most mines spend far more on ANFO (at about 20c US a kilo) than they do on any other business expense (including labor). Aussie Jim 11:02, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What is the North Korean nuke test doing in this list?

According to most sources, the NK nuclear test was indeed a nuclear test. Its yield was most probably between 0.5 kt - 2 kt. Whether the test was a dud, a fizzle, a partial success or a full-fledged nuclear explosion is not clear right now. However, even if the blast had been created using chemical explosives (which is very unlikely), it would still be too weak to figure in this list. So what's the point? A Wikipedia article like this one should be reliable and not rely on unverified theories, rumors and ongoing investigations. By the way, this list is about high explosives and not nukes. Hugo Dufort 20:45, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree, I am going to remove it until it is determined to be non-nuclear. From the two citations I get The working assumption remains that it was a nuclear test from one and the other says they don't know. Speculation does not belong here. HighInBC 15:04, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Yield: kiloton assessment

It would be nice, when data is available, to give an assessment of the explosion's force (in kilotons). I've added the data for the Halifax Explosion because it is among the most documented (the exact amount and nature of the explosive was known and the explosion's effects were extensively studied) -- its yield was around 2.9-3.0 kt. Now it would be nice to add similar data to other entries in this list. Hugo Dufort 18:00, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

I agree. It's hard to compare these things without TNT equivalent figures. Any demolitions experts or chemists out there who can contribute these? I can do estimates based on what I read but I'm sure I wouldn't be taking into account certain things making my figures inaccurate. -- MiG 09:44, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] References

This article needs to cite its references for it to be valid. Langara College 06:15, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

No it doesn't. As long as the linked articles on the explosions have references, we don't need to repeat them here. Hrimfaxi 12:04, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sea Launch explosion

According to [3], a recent launch on a Sea Launch ship resulted in a rocket with 500 tons of rocket fuel exploded. As such, it seems like that would qualify the Sea Launch incident for inclusion in this article. TerraFrost 02:31, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

I removed the bit in the MOAB section about it being used in afghanistan. It has not been used in combat operations.

[edit] Minor Scale looks bigger than Halifax

Official accounts say 4.8 kts on AFNO. At a relative strength of 0.8, this gives 4kt, an often quoted strength of the test. So it definitely looks bigger than Halifax, though not as dramatic and destructive. LouScheffer 23:15, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Candidates should be discussed here

Candidate explosion (uncertain whether it qualifies yet): 2006 Falk Corporation explosion

This was in the article, and while it sounds like a big explosion it doesn't really discuss how big on an explosive scale. Anynobody 05:33, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Smederovo fortress

I don’t know the size of the Smederevo fortress explosion in Serbia, 5 June 1941, an (accidental?) explosion of German ammunition, but with c2500 dead it must have been large.

PS: I don’t think the list should include bombing from aircraft, although the total dropped in some WWII raids on particular targets/cities must have been in the hundreds of tons? Hugo999 00:57, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] SS John Burke Explosion should be high on the list

I'd like to see the December 28, 1944 explosion of the SS John Burke included in the list of major non-nulcear explosions. It must have been several thousand tons of ammunition. Check out these pics and I think you would agree it's quite impressive. http://www.ussbush.com/slotow.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.170.240.10 (talk) 09:33, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tons

I've tried to clarify the use of the word 'tons'. In doing so have made some assumptions:

- when tons are referred to in a US context short tons (2000lbs or 907 kg) are intended
- when tons are referred to in a British or Commonwealth context prior to metrication long 
  tons (2240lbs or 1016 kg) are intended
- when tons are referred in the context of a country that traditionally used the metric system
  tonnes (1000 kg) are intended.

I have provided metric equivalents (tonnes) for the long and short tons where they occur.

Blaise (talk) 20:01, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] See Also

I added a see also section, because after looking at this article, it made me wonder about the list of the largest nuclear explosions. I hope this strikes everyone as an OK idea. Perhaps if we have a list somewhere of the largest natural explosions, that would fit well, too? Faithfully, Deltopia (talk) 00:22, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Math

What's with the math here? At point point I see this: |The most powerful non-nuclear weapons ever designed are the United States' MOAB (standing for Massive Ordnance Air Blast, also nicknamed Mother Of All Bombs, tested in 2003) and the Russian Father of All Bombs (tested in 2007), about 4 times more powerful than the MOAB). The MOAB packs 18,700 lb (8.5 tonnes) of the H6 explosive, which is 1.35 times as powerful as TNT. This gives the bomb an approximate yield of 0.025 kt. As a matter of comparison, it would require 118 MOABs to equate the Halifax Explosion. Now, 18.7 * 1.35 / 2.2 (rough conversion to kilotons) equals 11.5kt. Where does this "0.025" figure come from? Also, the MOAB article seems to agree with the 11.5 number (though it only says 11).--Mylon (talk) 04:55, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Multan Explosion

I would like to add this in the "Before 1900" section.

Siege of Multan . On December 30, 1848, in Multan during the Second Anglo-Sikh War , "A shell from a mortar struck a mosque in the city which had been turned into a magazine and stored with 400,000 lbs. of gunpowder. It blew up with a tremendous explosion which shook the earth for many miles round, and darkened the air with smoke and fragments." -- from [http://books.google.ca/books?id=xLwIAAAAQAAJ The History The History of India by John Clark Marshman, Volume III] page 340.

The citation is necessary because Siege_of_Multan doesn't mention the size = 400,000 lbs = 200 short tons. This is comparable to the Mobile explosion.

Any objections?

Peter Gulutzan (talk) 17:53, 20 April 2008 (UTC)