
Israel military detects 6 blasts, each 11 seconds apart, before Beirut explosion - Khelavaster
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-security-blast-seismology/seismic-data-suggests-string-of-blasts-preceded-beirut-explosion-israeli-analyst-idUSKCN2591S2
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fghorow
Geophysicist here.

These 11 second periodic blasts are due to airguns from a Turkish seismic
survey vessel that happened to be working in the region. N.B. they continued
_after_ the Beirut explosion.

Here's a (long; thanks Zuck) link to a FB post from IRIS (the Incorporated
Research Institutions for Seismology):

[https://www.facebook.com/IRISEarthquake/photos/a.36102058997...](https://www.facebook.com/IRISEarthquake/photos/a.361020589973/10158943990109974/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCQ2xtt4S6O1JJO8mz4ReWWCGs8NwcCVEH32leM7QYUR-
Bm7TcXyFn0P7i6gkQLJC2Kg5-DSIXusJwqBq85SVzU2NYJomn6xm1bZniYFT4wuxihBPVQ-
RU6xhJTIhO5LYfAZa0uUq7uPjriyW1_n8qj_uYB2ozR8Zcv4KFdSxyHbGxmqFGYLwdCsA0kwDe_fwigH1_FfqHjUKav-
tNLGZL6VB9v1GGINF656LCAZFtXCPNGrEy3-2ErJkHs5y0lZ_Y6ijrd5RsOLTiDnOx-
HUAemv7Cm_rG29dYqdMrzkls05q4YQw2j61z9H7XGjM200V6akNWB-0SvNWuLrCo&__tn__=-R)

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ceejayoz
> “I do not believe that they are associated with the large explosion in
> Beirut,” Jerry Carter, director of IRIS data services, told Reuters.

> “They could be from a seismic survey,” he added, referring to geologists
> carrying out airgun bursts for underwater mapping.

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dogma1138
It’s not the Israeli military that claims that, it’s an Israeli seismologist
that works for an oil company.

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xref
> Hayoun assessed that the Beirut incident involved underground explosions.
> The 43-metre (140-foot) deep crater at the port could not have been left by
> the explosion of the amount of ammonium nitrate reported by Lebanese
> authorities, he said: “It would have been shallower, maximum 25 or 30
> metres.”

To make a claim about “maximum crater depth” seems like you’d need a lot of
data about the ground composition below the storage area, and if the anfo was
in a concrete silo that could amplify the blast by letting pressure build
before failing etc

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stunt
They should also investigate how the fire started in the warehouse. Some
warehouse fire setting are just arson or have business motivations like
insurance fraud. In many cases they have no idea what else is stored in the
warehouse and things can go really wrong.

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tyingq
Interesting that Isreal is (maybe) capable of detecting far away fireworks
bursts. I wonder how they filter out meaningless noise.

~~~
thephyber
My naïve guess is that it's used to assist in triangulating where incoming
rockets / mortars are fired from.

Edit: I read the article and it has nothing to do with the Iron Dome (unless
it's military equipment posing as science equipment).

~~~
Zenst
Also tunnels - [https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-lebanon/israel-
to-b...](https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-israel-lebanon/israel-to-build-
anti-tunnel-sensor-network-along-lebanon-border-idUKKBN1ZI08C?il=0)

