FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Tobi]

Finally some new specimens! And as usual, in best of the best of the best of the best of the best quality, simply a pleasure :-)

[MIM Museum]

Guten Tag Tobi
Thank you very much for your enthusiastic comments, as always.
When will we have the pleasure to welcome you in Beirut?
Salim

[MIM Museum]

And some more

[MIM Museum]

[Tobi]

I can't find words for those mineral specimens, Salim, they are simply beyond words. The combination of quality/aesthetics and their incredible sizes makes them one of the best and most valuable mineral collections in the world. Keep up that great work, you inspire every mineral lover in the world with your surreal collection of outstanding masterpieces :-)

[Jordi Fabre]

Despite the recent, tremendous explosion in Beirut, news has reached us that Salim, his employees and his family are basically fine, although with some injured and two relatives who have miraculously survived the collapse of their home, with them inside.

The upper part of the Museum (entrance and shop) is blown out but there is no damage to the collection since it is housed in the lower part of the building, well protected.

In any case, the explosion must have been brutal because the MIM is relatively far from the port, it is not housed in a very open building, and it is behind many other buildings, some of them very large and very solid, so it is hard to imagine how it can be that the upper part of the Museum has been devastated since, as I said, it is not very close to the port nor is it in an open space. The blast wave from the explosion must have been gigantic in order to affect the MIM in this way.

Not enough is known but Lebanon is a country that has suffered a lot throughout its history and that without making as much noise as other neighboring countries, is crucial for the refugee problem since it generously houses and helps a huge number of them: Palestinians, Syrians, Iraqis ... In fact it is the country in the world with the highest percentage of refugees per inhabitant and according to the Lebanese the actual figures are far higher than the official figures. They say that in their country there are many more refugees than Lebanese people.

When subscriptions are opened to help Lebanon financially, I will participate and ask whoever is able to do so as well. Lebanon was having a very bad time with serious power and infrastructure problems and with Covid outbreaks, so this explosion can leave them in a very uncertain situation and without a doubt they are going to need all the possible solidarity from the rest of the world.

[Peter Lemkin]

I just exchanged emails with Salim. He told me that 'All glass and windows were blasted out in a circle of radius 15 km around the explosion'! And, yes, he confirmed, as reported above by our 'fearless leader' that the collection suffered very little or more likely NO damage - amazingly!! It was felt and shook buildings 150 Km away!! Hundreds dead and hundreds missing and surely dead. Tens of thousands injured and over a quarter of a million had their homes destroyed and an equal number of cars destroyed. Lebanon was having a very difficult time before this.....I wish them all well. A great country with a long and proud history - and one of the best mineral collections in the World!!! Very sad this happened and I expect the public to call for a major change in governance as soon as they get over the shock....it has already begun, in fact. The cost of rebuilding lives and structures - even the society will be in the hundreds of Billions. First, those homeless and without means of income will need help!

[Kevin Schofield]

[rweaver]

What happen from a somewhat different view.
The Next California Earthquake (facebook page)

This terrible explosion that happened yesterday in Beirut was initially picked up as a M3.3 earthquake, but calculations of the total energy released rate it as the equivalent of around a M4.4.

This may not seem like much, but keep in mind that only a small amount of an earthquake's energy reaches the surface, while this blast was entirely above ground. They believe that close to 2,750 tons of confiscated ammonium nitrate sitting in a warehouse fed the explosion.

USGS Website
M 3.3 Explosion - 1 km ENE of Beirut, Lebanon
The Beirut, Lebanon explosion was processed using the same basic methods that we use for regional earthquakes. To remove uncertainties in the location associated with seismic methods, we fix the location to the location seen in videos of the blast. Standard methods were used to calculate the magnitude. The reported magnitude is not directly comparable to an earthquake of similar size because the explosion occurred at the surface where seismic waves are not as efficiently generated. News reports state the explosion was caused by 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate which is roughly equivalent to 1100 tons of TNT.

Also from the CALTECH website the various Mines (like Boron) and other quarries tend to show up varying from a M1.0 - M1.7 when they set off explosive charges.

[David K. Joyce]

Such a terrible event in Lebanon. To compare it with an earthquake is really misleading, though. I have no doubt that there was an earthquake equivalent of 3.3-4.0 or so. This would only account for some of the damage. When explosives are detonated in mines and quarries, in boreholes, confined by rock, it is the resultant shockwave and then expansion of chemical gasses that do the fragmentation of rock and subsequent movement of rock. When explosives are detonated, unconfined, on surface, only a small amount of the shock energy goes into the ground to create a seismic event. The vast majority of energy is transmitted through the atmosphere as a shock wave and blast overpressure. In the case of 2700 tonnes or so of unconfined explosives detonating, the resultant shockwave and blast overpressure would be HUGE and would pulverize any structures nearby and violently shake any structures for thousands of metres around. Weak structures, people and glass would be most affected further out but even strong structures close-in would be heavily damaged or destroyed much more than any earthquake could accomplish. A terrible result of a detonation that should have been much more useful use of energy.

The thing is, there are numerous examples of this type of detonation in the past 100 years or so in different parts of the world. It is well known what ammonium nitrate can do when subjected to heat and pressure. In many countries, there are regulations that help control where large amounts of explosives and explosives components such as oxidizers are stored -NOT in cities and ports.

[MIM Museum]

Peter, the collection did not suffer "very little or more likely NO damage", it is absolutely unscathed!!! We went through each and every rock, none has even budged. Likewise for the fossils. It is a sheer miracle. What certainly helped is that the collection is in the basement of a modern building but the reinforcing of the walls, ceilings and soils planned when we built the museum has clearly more than paid off last Tuesday.
I am having the ground floor entrance cleaned and plan to have the museum operational as soon as possible!
Salim

[Peter Lemkin]

[Fiebre Verde]