Russia blast: Huge explosions rock arsenal storing 13mln shells

[Poll_Blind]

Last edited Tue Jun 18, 2013, 02:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Russia Today

Large explosions rock an ammunition depot in Russia’s Samara Region, where over 13 million shells are stored. The police have started evacuation of the nearby communities.

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Read more: http://rt.com/news/ammunition-depot-blasts-russia-888/

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That's it so far. 13 million artillery shells.

Update:
From this news site's article, appears initial fire may have been caused by detonation of 23mm anti-aircraft rockets. The explosions occurred at the same time as they were to be detonated.



From YouTube. Google Translated title is "Explosion near Chapaevsk June 18, 2013"

I suppose those are shells going off, not thunder.

PB

[MADem]

1. Well, that's ammo that won't be used by the Government of Syria... nt

[kentauros]

2. I hope they get everyone safely away.

How far can exploding shells send their projectiles without guidance hardware (gun barrels)?

[Poll_Blind]

3. Reports are 3-4 have been injured by shrapnel in nearby communities/the site, AFAIK.

Bullets that blow up will travel nowhere near as far as those shot from a gun, of course, but I don't know about rockets or artillery shells.

Not only is information dodgy at this point, I'm also translating it using Google Translate so it's sometimes difficult to ascertain exactly what's being said.

PB

[kentauros]

4. Well, thanks for doing that much.

I can't look at the video right now (at work) so will have to check back this evening.

[sofa king]

5. You simply wouldn't believe it.

If that footage was taken from miles away, as I suspect it was, the total yield of the explosion could have been in the kiloton range, and unexploded ordnance could have been thrown for thousands of yards around.

As an extreme example of how far an object can be thrown in one of those explosions, in one underground nuclear test a steel plate might have been the first man-made object to exit the solar system, but the scientist in charge thinks it probably vaporized in the atmosphere.

[Poll_Blind]

6. From what I've been able to piece together, all the footage so far has come from...

...quite far away. At least 5+ kilometers away. Just from what I saw, visually- based on the time it took to hear a report from a visual explosion. An article also said as much.

PB

[kentauros]

7. Then this kind of explosion is similar in power to the Texas City disaster,

where the anchors and one of the propellers of the ships were thrown up to 1.6 miles away.

The nuclear test example is mind-blowing

[telclaven]

13. When I was working with an EOD group

Doing ammunition disposal, we'd have to evacuate a region a mile and 1/2 around the facility (farmers mostly). We would find shrapnel and some unexploded shells that flew further than that on occasion.

[intaglio]

8. Just hope there's no depleted uranium shells

Bad, bad, bad!

[Adsos Letter]

9. Here's hoping they keep their NBC stuff stashed somewhere else

for the sake of those downwind from this.

[jtuck004]

10. That bottom picture. Is that from Sarah Palin's porch? n/t

[GreenStormCloud]

11. That would be 23mm anti-aircraft shells, NOT 23mm AA rockets.

The media gets things screwed up, as usual.

[leanforward]

12. memories

The Long Binh ammo dump blew before sunset one evening when I was in RVN. I'm guessing our base camp was 15-20 miles away. Quite a show. It continued into the night, a glow on the eastern horizon. Even at the distance, our squad tent did a shock wave sway.