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Mapping the Damage From the Beirut Explosion

LEBANON

Beirut

Explosions erupted in Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday evening, leveling buildings, damaging hospitals and shattering windows for miles. More than 5,000 people were injured and at least 135 were killed.

A shock wave raced from the site of the blast, on Beirut’s industrial waterfront, into the city’s densely populated residential neighborhoods and downtown shopping districts. Dozens of nearby buildings — including grain silos storing around 85 percent of the country’s grain — were severely damaged or destroyed, imagery from the aftermath showed.

SITE OF EXPLOSION

Warehouse storing

ammonium nitrate

Destroyed

grain silos

PORT OF

BEIRUT

SITE OF EXPLOSION

Warehouse storing

ammonium nitrate

Destroyed grain silos

PORT OF

BEIRUT

SITE OF EXPLOSION

Warehouse storing

ammonium nitrate

Destroyed grain silos

PORT OF

BEIRUT

Source: @rabzthecopter

Officials said it appeared the larger blast was caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate that had been stored in a warehouse at the port since it was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014.

Satellite image captured after the explosion

JISR

PORT OF

BEIRUT

KARANTINA

BEIRUT CENTRAL

DISTRICT

Patients evacuated

from Karantina

Hospital

Capsized ship

SITE OF EXPLOSIONS

Beirut Port Silos

and surrounding

buildings severely

damaged

Warehouse storing

‘explosive materials’

Warehouses destroyed

or damaged

Glass shattered in

upscale shopping district

AL MARFA’A

Charles Helou

Facade stripped

off towers

Damaged

buildings

Storefronts

shattered downtown

Damage at

Grand Serail

Armenia St.

Charles Helou

MAR MIKHAEL

Armenia St.

Damaged

buildings

GEMMAYZEH

Rubble

GEITAWI

Mohammad

AlAmin Mosque

St. George

Hospital damaged

Wounded children

in Gemmayzeh

Charles Malek

Damage on Charles Malek

BACHOURA

BEIRUT

Independance

Damage at Sodeco

Square mall

Apartment windows

blown out in Achrafieh

Damage at Hôtel-Dieu de

France hospital, where

around 400 injured

people were later taken.

BOURJ ABI HAYDAR

SODECO

Satellite image captured after the explosion

JISR

PORT OF

BEIRUT

KARANTINA

BEIRUT CENTRAL

DISTRICT

Patients evacuated

from Karantina

Hospital

Capsized ship

SITE OF EXPLOSIONS

Beirut Port Silos

and surrounding

buildings severely

damaged

Warehouse storing

‘explosive materials’

Warehouses destroyed

or damaged

Glass shattered in

upscale shopping district

AL MARFA’A

Charles Helou

Facade stripped

off towers

Damaged

buildings

Storefronts

shattered downtown

Armenia St.

Charles Helou

MAR MIKHAEL

Armenia St.

Damaged

buildings

GEMMAYZEH

Rubble

GEITAWI

Mohammad

AlAmin Mosque

Damage at

Grand Serail

St. George

Hospital damaged

Wounded children

in Gemmayzeh

Charles Malek

Damage on Charles Malek

BACHOURA

BEIRUT

Independance

Damage at Sodeco

Square mall

Apartment windows

blown out in Achrafieh

BOURJ ABI HAYDAR

SODECO

Damage at Hôtel-Dieu de

France hospital, where

around 400 injured

people were later taken.

Satellite image captured after the explosion

PORT OF

BEIRUT

Patients

evacuated

from Karantina

Hospital

BEIRUT CENTRAL

DISTRICT

Capsized

ship

SITE OF EXPLOSIONS

Beirut Port Silos

and surrounding

buildings severely

damaged

Warehouse storing

‘explosive materials’

KARANTINA

Warehouses destroyed

or damaged

Glass shattered in

upscale shopping district

AL MARFA’A

Facade stripped

off towers

Storefronts

shattered downtown

Charles Helou

MAR MIKHAEL

GEMMAYZEH

Damaged

buildings

GEITAWI

Damage at

Grand Serail

Rubble

Mohammad

AlAmin Mosque

St. George

Hospital damaged

Charles Malek

BACHOURA

BEIRUT

Independance

Damage at Sodeco

Square mall

Apartment windows

blown out in Achrafieh

Damage at Hôtel-Dieu de

France hospital, where

around 400 injured

people were later taken.

BOURJ ABI HAYDAR

SODECO

Satellite image captured after the explosion

PORT OF

BEIRUT

BEIRUT CENTRAL

DISTRICT

SITE OF EXPLOSIONS

Beirut Port Silos

and surrounding

buildings severely

damaged

Warehouse storing

‘explosive materials’

Warehouses destroyed

or damaged

Glass blankets ground

in upscale shopping district

AL MARFA’A

Facade stripped

off towers

Storefronts

shattered downtown

Charles Helou

MAR MIKHAEL

GEMMAYZEH

Damaged

buildings

Rubble

Mohammad

AlAmin Mosque

St. George

Hospital damaged

Charles Malek

BEIRUT

Damage at Sodeco

Square mall

Apartment windows

blown out in Achrafieh

Damage at Hotel Dieu

hospital, where around

400 injured people

were later taken

SODECO

Satellite image captured after the explosion

PORT OF

BEIRUT

BEIRUT CENTRAL

DISTRICT

SITE OF

EXPLOSIONS

Warehouse

storing ‘explosive

materials’

Beirut Port Silos

and surrounding

buildings severely

damaged

Warehouses destroyed

or damaged

AL MARFA’A

Facade stripped

off towers

Storefronts

shattered downtown

Charles Helou

MAR MIKHAEL

GEMMAYZEH

Damaged

buildings

Rubble

Mohammad

AlAmin Mosque

St. George

Hospital

damaged

Charles Malek

BEIRUT

Damage at Sodeco

Square mall

Apartment windows

blown out in Achrafieh

Damage at Hôtel-Dieu de

France hospital, where

around 400 injured

people were later taken.

SODECO

By The New York Times·Sources: Damage locations based on photos and video showing destruction from the blast. Satellite images from Planet Labs (after) and Bing (before). Street data from OpenStreetMap.

The second of the two blasts could be heard in Cyprus, more than 100 miles away. Broken glass and debris could be seen two miles away, encompassing an area where more than 750,000 people live.

PORT OF BEIRUT

SITE OF

EXPLOSIONS

.5 miles

9,000 residents

1 mile

116,000 residents

2 miles

778,000 residents

Residents per

10,000 sq. meters

0

3 miles

1,862,000 residents

1,900

1 MILE

PORT OF BEIRUT

SITE OF

EXPLOSIONS

.5 miles

9,000 residents

1 mile

116,000 residents

Residents per

10,000 sq. meters

2 miles

778,000 residents

0

3 miles

1,862,000 residents

1,900

1 MILE

SITE OF

EXPLOSIONS

.5 miles

9,000 residents

1 mile

116,000 residents

2 miles

778,000 residents

3 miles

1,862,000 residents

1 MILE

By The New York Times. Population figures are approximate. Population data from WorldPop, University of Southampton. Satellite image from Bing.

The explosions erupted next to a tall building called the Beirut Port Silos, which could be seen partially collapsed amid the rubble of nearby buildings. Several fires burned across the port area, seen in this panoramic image.

Panoramic image by The New York Times, stitched together from several photos from the site.
Hussein Malla/Associated Press

Videos and photos taken from the scene showed a thick cloud of gray smoke hovering over the Mediterranean before an enormous burst of red and orange fumes exploded into the sky.

The New York Times