Tianjin Explosion: Huge Crater Opens In Apocalyptic Aftermath Of Blast In Chinese Port City
Huge Crater Opens In Apocalyptic Aftermath Of Tianjin Explosion
Eve Hartley— The Huffington Post UK
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The scorched aftermath of the deadly Tianjin disaster has been revealed in a series of apocalyptic images.
A fire and a series of blasts occurred on 12 August at the port city, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Beijing, claiming the lives of at least 104 people, with the death toll still rising.
Chinese authorities have since ordered everyone within three kilometres of the exploding warehouse full of hazardous chemicals, to evacuate the area.
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A huge crater has since emerged in the ground and the aerial photos show the scale of the devastation alongside 8,000 mangled, melted cars.
With large areas of the city in ruins, local officials have been pressed to explain why authorities permitted hazardous goods warehouses so close to residential complexes and critical infrastructure.
Two Chinese news outlets, including the state-run The Paper, reported that the warehouse was storing 700 tons of sodium cyanide - 70 times more than it should have been holding at one time - and that authorities were rushing to clean it up.
Sodium cyanide is a toxic chemical that can form a flammable gas upon contact with water.
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The magnitude of the original blasts was captured by the US Geological Survey which has equipment in Beijing (around 100 miles away), recording the Tianjin blasts at a magnitude of 2 or 3 on the Richter scale.
Tianjin, with a population of about 15 million, is one of the country's major ports.
Tianjin
(01 of10)
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Men gather on an elevated highway near the smoking remains of an explosion in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015. New explosions and fire rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Saturday, where one survivor was pulled out and authorities ordered evacuations within a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) radius to clean up chemical contamination. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of10)
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Smoke rises from damaged container boxes near the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. The blasts on last Wednesday night originated at a warehouse for hazardous material, where 700 tons of sodium cyanide - a toxic chemical that can form combustible substances on contact with water - were being stored in amounts that violated safety rules. That has prompted contamination fears and a major cleanup of a 3-kilometer (1.8-mile) -radius, cordoned-off area in this Chinese port city southeast of Beijing. (AP Photo/Paul Traynor) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(03 of10)
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A rescue worker walks on an elevated highway looking over the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. Explosions that sent huge fireballs through China's Tianjin port have disrupted the flow of cars, oil, iron ore and other items through the world's 10th largest port. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(04 of10)
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Deformed containers pile up at the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. Explosions that sent huge fireballs through China's Tianjin port have disrupted the flow of cars, oil, iron ore and other items through the world's 10th largest port. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of10)
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Workers sweep the area near deformed containers piled up after Wednesday's explosion in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. Rescuers pulled out a firefighter trapped for 32 hours after responding to a fire and huge explosions in the Chinese port city as authorities dealt Friday with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of10)
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A line of tarpaulin (at bottom) lines the ground around damaged shipping containers in Tianjin on August 17, 2015 at the site of the explosions last week that hit a chemical warehouse. Rescuers trying to contain vast amounts of toxic cyanide at a Chinese industrial site combed on August 17 through thousands of shipping containers crushed in giant explosions, as state-run media lambasted local authorities' response to the disaster that killed at least 114 people. Officials have insisted the city's air and water are safe, but locals and victims' relatives have voiced scepticism, while international environment group Greenpeace has also urged transparency. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STR via Getty Images)
(07 of10)
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This photo taken on August 16, 2015 shows smoke rising from the site of the explosions in Tianjin. Chinese state-run media on August 17 lambasted officials in the port city of Tianjin for a lack of transparency over the massive explosions at an industrial site that killed 112 and devastated a vast area. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STR via Getty Images)
(08 of10)
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This photo taken on August 16, 2015 shows rescuers (foreground) working as mangled cargo containers and wreckage are seen at the site of the explosions in Tianjin. Chinese state-run media on August 17 lambasted officials in the port city of Tianjin for a lack of transparency over the massive explosions at an industrial site that killed 112 and devastated a vast area. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STR via Getty Images)
(09 of10)
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This photo taken on August 16, 2015 shows rescue vehicles behind rows of burnt out cars at the site of the explosions in Tianjin. Chinese state-run media on August 17 lambasted officials in the port city of Tianjin for a lack of transparency over the massive explosions at an industrial site that killed 112 and devastated a vast area. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:STR via Getty Images)
(10 of10)
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A window shattered by the shockwaves frames the site of an explosion at a warehouse in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality, Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. Explosions that sent huge fireballs through China's Tianjin port have disrupted the flow of cars, oil, iron ore and other items through the world's 10th largest port. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (credit:Ng Han Guan/AP)