another explosion

[low_delta]

Last night, on Wikipedia's "On This Day" I found an article about an explosion that killed 2000 people in Halifax in 1917.

http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

I found it simply amazing. The Mont-blanc, a ship loaded with explosives was hit by another ship, caught fire and exploded killing 2000 people. The force of the blast triggered a tsunami that reached up to 18 meters above the high-water mark. [The ship] Imo was lifted up onto the Dartmouth shore by the tsunami. A 2.5 km² area of Richmond, Halifax and Dartmouth was levelled and windows were shattered as far away as Truro, 82 km north. The explosion was heard as far away as Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (175 km north), and the pressure wave reportedly knocked a soldier off his feet in Cape Breton Island (minimum distance 205 km east). A portion of a large anchor from the Mont-Blanc was discovered 2 km from the epicentre.

I e-mailed the link to Cyn last night. So I found it a little creepy when she called me with the news of the Falk explosion, first thing this morning.

Comments

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[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

I remember learning about that when I lived in Boston. Halifax sends Boston a HUGE Christmas Tree every year as thanks for Boston's help during that disaster.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

The Wikipedia article mentioned that. I'm glad to hear they're still carrying on that tradition.