Posted on 08/12/2015 11:03:18 AM PDT by FreeAtlanta
Footage circulating online appears to show a massive explosion in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, the cause of which is not yet known. The explosion reportedly occurred at the Tianjin Binhai New Development Zone at about 23:30 (15:30 GMT). Pictures and video footage shared on social media suggest a number of people were wounded by the blast. Several nearby tower blocks are without power, according to the Chine
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
"Firefighting efforts at the site of the blast in Tianjin have been suspended, because the number of hazardous chemicals at the explosion site is unknown, CCTV reported.Tianhe-1 supercomputer stopped due to safety concerns Scientists have stopped the Tianhe-1 supercomputer due to safety concerns after the Tianjin warehouse blasts. The Tianhe-1 supercomputer is located at the National Supercomputer Center in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin Municipality.
The warehouse blasts on Wednesday night broke some parts of the outer wall and glass of the center’s building. According to scientists at the supercomputer center, Tianhe-1 has not been affected by the blasts, but out of safety considerations, they temporarily shut down the computer.
Executives of company responsible for blasts in police custody
Company executives of Richsea International Logistics, whose warehouse caused the two blasts in Tianjin, have been taken into police custody, pending further inquiries.
*****
This tidbit triggered a memory to a link which tracked 'hackers' around the globe - which, at the time I came across it, displayed prolific activity emanating from China against the DC area at that time.
I checked that site map.norsecorp.com moments ago as I prepared this comment, and - lo and behold - China is dark and it is the middle of the day there as I write this.
***** Now this is a stretch - by any standard - but entertain this thought for a moment... DailyBeast: Spy Satellite Secrets and Hillary's e-mails
Now we all know that China has been eagerly hacking US secrets for quite some time...and Hillary's in deep doo doo as of recent days. Tianjin high tech "research" facilities are there Helix Nebula (CERN collaboration) Chinese 'cloud' research? Can't help but think hmmmmmmmm....
Hmmmm indeed.
Asian Correspondent
8 minutes ago
UPDATE: #China authorities bar #media from #TianjinBlast area, delete Weibo posts
Chinese Gov taking control of the narratives now, it seems.
I have been thinking it, but held off posting.
"State media said senior management of the company had been detained, and that President Xi Jinping demanded severe punishment for anyone found responsible for the explosions.
In a sign of sensitivity over the hazardous materials stored at the warehouse, state broadcaster CCTV went into a live broadcast of a news conference in Tianjin when the head of the municipality’s Environmental Protection Bureau chief, Wen Wurui, was speaking. He said there had been no apparent impact on air monitoring stations, but that water samples were still being examined. However, when a reporter asked him whether the chemicals at the warehouse had been stored far enough away from residences in the area and Wen seemed at a loss for a response, the broadcaster suddenly cut away from the news conference, only to return to it again later."..."As is customary during disasters, Chinese authorities tried to keep a tight control over information. Police kept journalists and bystanders away with a cordon about 1 or 2 kilometres from the site. On China’s popular microblogging platform of Weibo, some users complained that their posts about the blasts were deleted, and the number of searchable posts on the disaster fluctuated, in a sign that authorities were manipulating or placing limits on the number of posts.
The website of the logistics company became inaccessible Thursday."[see post 241]
It really IS a stretch. And yet..
https://mobile.twitter.com/MSimonTV?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Hazmat people spraying 15 TONS of hydrogen peroxide to combat an apparent cyanide leak.
New video from Liveleak, different angle. Lot of bad language.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0e5_1439474009
08/13/2015 | 09:14am US/Eastern
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
Tianjin Binhai Teda Logistics (Group) Corporation Limited* (a joint stock limited company incorporated in the People's Republic of China with limited liability) (Stock Code: 8348) VOLUNTARY ANNOUNCEMENT IN RELATION TO ThE GROUp AFFECTED BY EXpLOSIONS ACCIDENT
This is a voluntary announcement made by Tianjin Binhai Teda Logistics (Group) Corporation Limited* (the "Company") together with its subsidiaries (the "Group").
The board (the "Board") of directors (the "Directors") of the Company hereby announces that at around 23:30 on 12 August 2015, explosions took place in Tianjin Port located at Tianjin Binhai New Area, and a subsidiary and two associates (the "Involved Companies") of the Group operating in Tianjin Port have been affected in a certain extent. According to the information available to the Company, as at 5:00 p.m. today, the Involved Companies have no injuries and deaths and the damaged assets had been insured, so the losses are controllable. Therefore, the Board expected that it will not have a material impact on the production and operation of the Group. The Company will continue to keep update of progress on the accident.
By order of the Board
Tianjin Binhai Teda Logistics (Group) Corporation Limited* Zhang Jian
Chairman
Tianjin, the PRC
13 August 2015
As at the date of this announcement, the Board of Directors comprises of Mr. Zhang Jian as executive Director; Mr. Xu Lifan, Mr. Cui Xuesong, Mr. Tse Ping and Mr. Yang Xiaoping as non-executive Directors; and Mr. Cheng Xinsheng, Mr. Japhet Sebastian Law, Mr. Mei Xingbao and Mr. Zhou Zisheng as independent non-executive Directors. This announcement, for which the Directors collectively and individually accept full responsibility, includes particulars given in compliance with the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Growth Enterprise Market of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited for the purpose of giving information with regard to the Company. The directors, having made all reasonable enquiries, confirm that to the best of their knowledge and belief the information contained in this announcement is accurate and complete in all material respects and not misleading or deceptive, and there are no other matters the omission of which would make any statement herein or this announcement misleading.
This announcement will remain on the "Latest Company Announcements" page of the GEM website at www.hkgem.com for 7 days from the date of its posting. This announcement will also be posted on the Company's website at www.tbtl.cn.
...no deaths...
It seems the f-word has become a part of every nation’s vocabulary.
Definitely keep your natural gas plants and storage away from other highly flammable and explosive substances.
No this is NOT 9/11 for China because I doubt that terrorism was involved. China has had a whole series of deadly man made disasters in recent years. I’m sure if they suspected terrorism, they would be using it to pick up lots of “the usual suspects.”
“...the Involved Companies have no injuries and deaths and the damaged assets had been insured, so the losses are controllable. Therefore, the Board expected that it will not have a material impact on the production and operation of the Group.”
I’m sure that message is really going to make the families of the 50+ dead and the 700+ injured feel so much better. I love the way the messengers, “take no responsibility for the contents of the announcement, etc. etc.”
No this is NOT 9/11 for China because I doubt that terrorism was involved.
I have to say what fascinated me about this explosion was what I learned a few years ago when I came across those nuclear weapon’s threads. i.e. some bombs are not really as powerful as people expect from nuclear weapons. I was shocked to discover the Hiroshima bomb could be dropped on downtown Seattle and the U-district may lose a few windows and that’s it.
The bombs seemed devastating because of the type of structures the Japanese used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was the perfect target for what was in essence the mother of incendiary bombs. It would have been less effective against Berlin.
Here is another link showing the sequence of explosions vividly. It actually looks like 3 specific explosions. The 1st video was taken by people who sound like Americans. When the first explosion occurs, they are laughing and joking and one says maybe a gas station. Then the second huge explosion occurs and the group gets serious and shocked, then what appears to be a third huge explosion occurs, and they decide they better go downstairs. The reports have all said 2 explosions, but this certainly looks like a third one with the talking continuing in the background from the 2nd to 3rd one so I don’t see how this could have been a repeat of the 2nd one. Also you see individual flaming parts raining outward like a fireworks explosion. Other videos then follow including one describing flouting of rules regarding building safe distances from potentially hazardous industrial sites and descriptions of known chemicals at site. These included calcium chloride which burns when touched with water and emits acetylene gas, and a huge amount of a chemical with cyanide (700 tons I think they said). The Chinese have been very hush, hush about air pollution, and the next video which was in Chinese only mentioned chemicals not including cyanide. A following video shot from helicopter shows the vast area of devastation including masses of metal shipping container washed up against a high rise like pebbles at a beach after a storm. Another one shows a large water filled crater, perhaps 400 or more feet in diameter, based on the probable 40 feet length of shipping containers nearby. Death toll up to 57, with over 700 hospitalized with over 50 critical or serious. At least 15 firefighters killed and 1,000 responding. Since the explosions happened around 11 pm, the daylight shots are long after the initial explosions.
Sounds like although it probably was not a nuclear explosion, it was more devastating than a Davey Crocket bomb (20t). No radiation from a ground burst is a good thing.
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