Investigation of Near-Surface Chemical Explosions Effects using Seismo-acoustic and InSAR Analysis
Published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2022
Abstract
Chemical explosions are ground truth events that enhance understanding of wave propagation, damage assessment, and yield estimation. On August 4, 2020, Beirut was struck by a catastrophic explosion, and on March 21, 2019, a strong explosion occurred at the Xiangshui, China chemical plant. Both events generated shock waves that transitioned to infrasound and seismic waves. In this work, the seismo-acoustic signatures, yields, and associated damage are investigated. Differential InSAR analysis quantified surface damage and estimated TNT-equivalent yields (Beirut: 202–270 ± 100 tons; Xiangshui: 201 ± 83.5 tons). Infrasound propagation modeling identified a strong stratospheric duct westward for Beirut and tropospheric propagation toward the KUT sensor network for Xiangshui. Despite the similar yields, near-source damage areas were almost the same for both events.
Recommended citation: Hamama, I., Yamamoto, M., Elgabry, M.N., Ismail, N., Saber, H., Othman, A.S., Abdelazim, M., et al. (2022). "Investigation of Near-Surface Chemical Explosions Effects using Seismo-acoustic and InSAR Analysis." The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
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