# How large was the explosion at Tianjin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772 "2015-08-13T20:40:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/41 "2015-08-18T20:21:32Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > True, but stoping a recording outside a hospital filled to the brim with injured people and some poor functionary being underbriefed and out of his depth is hardly a coverup, especially in early days when they probably have little idea of what happened. OK, has anyone else answered that question? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/42 "2015-08-18T20:33:47Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > OK, has anyone else answered that question? Answered what? Western media seems to be lapping up the grieving family members (shouting ‘Stop the foreign media from reporting!’) meme, so what’s to answer? What were you looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/43 "2015-08-18T21:06:03Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Answered what? Western media seems to be lapping up the grieving family members (shouting ‘Stop the foreign media from reporting!’) meme, so what’s to answer? What were you looking for? The answer is fairly obvious - a breakdown of regulation due to either incompetence or corruption. But don’t expect to hear that answer from them, and they are clearly trying to make sure no one can even ask the question. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/44 "2015-08-18T21:08:31Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > True, but stoping a recording outside a hospital filled to the brim with injured people and some poor functionary being underbriefed and out of his depth is hardly a coverup, especially in early days when they probably have little idea of what happened. If they were trying to broadcast in a room full of injured people, I can see the objection. But no one - except the government - is being inconvenienced by a broadcast outside. The underbriefed functionary called the news conference, I bet. He could either answer or say he would get the answer. It is not like this is a gotcha question, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/45 "2015-08-18T21:13:37Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The Chinese are 10,000 times more integrated and dependent on the global market then the Sovs ever were. Lyimg and obfuscation are counterproductive for them as it will only reduce confidence. Said the alligator to the scorpion. For their own power and protection the new leadership in China needs to show it is making the lives of the people better and improving the economy. That is what the news will report. If the economy is in fact worsening, that is not going to change what the official media reports, and is just going to increase the pressure on the censors to shut down any bad news from getting out. There will be scapegoats of course, to try to deflect the blame. Maintaining power is far more important to them than the confidence of global markets. Western businesses have already demonstrated that they will put up with all sorts of abuse to get a piece of the Chinese market. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/46 "2015-08-18T21:22:32Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Western media seems to be lapping up the grieving family members (shouting ‘Stop the foreign media from reporting!’) meme, so what’s to answer? Objection: Patently irrelevant. I’ll ask again: Has any official source even come close to responding to the question “[Why were] so many residential homes […] so close to a storage facility with toxic chemicals?” ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772/47 "2015-08-18T21:46:59Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Objection: Patently irrelevant. > > I’ll ask again: Has any official source even come close to responding to the question “[Why were] so many residential homes […] so close to a storage facility with toxic chemicals?” Ok…I’m seriously confused. How does this relate to what you quoted from AK84? In any case, to answer THIS question, the company was authorized or given permission to store a very small amount of what is thought to be the explosive chemicals at that site, despite it being too close to residential neighborhoods by their own regulations. There is an investigation going on right now, and last I heard at least 6 company officials had been arrested. There hasn’t been an official finding, but you can bet that when it happens it will go something like this…those company officials, perhaps along with ‘corrupt’ local official exceeded their authority and/or illegally allowed for more chemical than was authorized. Those company officials, along with perhaps some local officials will, if they are lucky, be given suspended death sentences…or, if enough folks on Weibo are pissed off enough, they will get the long drop. The Chinese Communist Party, of course, will be blameless, and are continuing their efforts to stamp out corruption (they have had a supposed anti-corruption campaign since Xi Jinping came into power…amazingly, it seems to be finding a lot of folks from a rival factions members as the key people doing the corruption :p). What you are asking in the GQ sense though, no…nothing official yet beyond the fact that the company had a waver to store a small quantity of what is thought to be the explosive chemical in their warehouse even though it was closer to residential structures than is normally allowed, and that the investigation is continuing. You can read about it on a bunch of different sites, but [here](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/asia/china-tianjin-blasts/) is CNN’s article on it fwiw: > [@](#): > > Questions over license > > Official news agency Xinhua said the company was licensed to handle dangerous chemicals at the time of the blasts but only obtained that license in June. A previous license had lapsed in October 2014. > > The warehouse was a temporary storage facility that housed materials after they arrived at the port and before they were transported elsewhere, city officials have said. > > Several hundred tons of sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical that can kills humans rapidly, have been found at two locations and are being cleaned up. > > China’s State Council has formed an investigative committee to “give a responsible answer” on the cause of the disaster and promised “serious punishment,” Xinhua reported Tuesday. > > “Many are questioning about the number of people killed in the blasts, the emergency assistance provided, and the handling of the aftermath. Some are even suspicious, with rumors circling,” said a commentary in the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece. > > “In the face of an accident that has caused heavy losses of life and property, the central government’s attitude is clear and resolute: a thorough investigation and severe punishment are beyond any doubt,” it concluded. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-was-the-explosion-at-tianjin/727772.md?page=2)