By Feras Werr

It struck me a while back when I was pondering some of the information that the Lebanese media was broadcasting immediately after the powerful explosion that literally ripped through Beirut city, that something wasn’t adding up. The beastly explosion that sodomized thousands of apartments and scores of neighborhoods in seconds, on the 4th of August 2020, sent wild waves of shock and anger throughout the Arab world. Millions watched in disbelief the aftermath of what the media described as “Beirut Shima”; while scores of countries denounced the irresponsible act of storing highly explosive material in the port in the midst of the vibrant Lebanese capital. What on earth was in that port that was so powerful enough to do the job of atomic bombs? The early reports tossed around quickly by the media and local Lebanese authorities held that 2750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate, which is equivalent to 1800 tons of TNT, burst in the port causing the catastrophe at hand. We shall briefly analyze how accurate these figures are in this article. An article called, “Beirut Blast Was Among History’s Largest Accidental Explosions,” quoted scientists from the University of Sheffield stating that the blast has the force equivalent to anywhere between 550 to 1200 tons of TNT. The researchers used footage collected from 16 cameras from the blast, whereby roughly confirming the figures mentioned in many reputable newspapers and websites.

Frankly speaking, having written scientific articles in my past history as a freelance writer for several magazine, and processing information by earthquake experts, earthquakes are moved by very powerful activity underneath the earths crust called tectonic plates. When those plates move and rub against each other, forced by the massive pressures within our planet, they cause powerful trembling that are felt all the way up on the earth’s crust. The earth underneath us weighs billions of tons and is not moved by any sort of light pressure at all. Accordingly, when massive pressure piles up from time to time within our earth’s interior quakes and volcano’s may erupt in different places in our world and at times underneath the sea. Taking this into consideration just makes the facts revealed by the Lebanese authorities about the port’s explosion illogical. It all struck me when I was reading the statement of Jordan’s Seismological Observatory. Immediately upon the explosion on the 4th of August 2020 their equipment picked up a significant 4.5 on the Richter scale. The Lebanese government stated that a 3.3 was picked up upon the explosion in Lebanon. Analyzing this info means that a 3.3 in Beirut shook the earth underneath so powerfully that it was enough to cause a 4.5 tremor in Jordan thousands of kilometers away?! It doesn’t add up as a 3.3 tremor will grow weaker as the shock waves travel away from the center of the quake. There is definitely something wrong concerning these statements. Unfortunately either we are looking at two different quakes that are totally unrelated or the worst could have happened in Beirut last year.

A 4.5 quake is equivalent to 5100 tons of TNT yield. This literally means that the power to cause a 4.5 tremor would be equivalent to 5100 tons exploding completely and totally inside the earths crust. For any known explosion to cause a tremor it has to be powerful enough and to completely detonate inside the earths crust. Explosions above the ground may not be powerful enough to cause significant tremors as part of the explosion’s energy is released into the air. Therefore it could have been impossible for 2750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate which is equivalent to only 1800 tons of TNT to cause the tremor in Jordan as the tremor in Lebanon was a weak 3.3?! Science has it that the energy of 5100 tons of TNT would have to explode completely underground to cause a 4.5 tremor?! The 3.3 quake is too weak to cause enough trembling in the grounds to move the faults thousands of kilometers away in Jordan.

All these calculations add up to one conclusion. There were more than 2750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate in Beirut’s port. For this above ground explosion to cause enough seismic activity in the ground to be felt in Jordan at least four to five times the stated amount of Ammonium Nitrate would have to have been present in the port to do all the damage to the Lebanese capital and to be felt by the Jordanian Seismological Observatory. Some party in Lebanon could be covering up the real quantities of Ammonium Nitrate that were admitted to the port and doesn’t want to announce the correct figures to the press along with the complete truth. This could be the scenario at one hand as this is a very brutal crime against humanity and against the Lebanese people. Another scenario on the other hand could explain things also. Within the waves of chaos, corruption and poor administration that the Lebanese government has been accused of repeatedly by the public and Lebanese press, inaccurate loggings of incoming merchandise to the port could have been the cause of these wrong figures.

One day the truth will be revealed and all this disclarity will go away. The victims’ that perished in this insane explosion will be avenged and the case that is still open today in the offices of the Lebanese security departments will be solved and closed tomorrow. How successful can you be in covering up the causes of this catastrophe and till when can the Lebanese government ignore the heat that the families of the victims are putting on them to bring the guilty to court. The government still has a lot to explain concerning what happened as this is a painful incident that was recorded in history and will remain alive in memory of the Lebanese people for a very long time.