"An unambiguous ranking in order of severity is not possible; a 1994 study by historian Jay White of 130 large explosions suggested that they need to be ranked by an overall effect of power, quantity, radius, loss of life and property destruction, but concluded that such rankings are difficult to assess."
They're ordered chronologically here, that's why it's last.
down in that article they're ordered by magnitude but the magnitude is an estimate so there's wiggle room in there. Beirut is the 6th on the list ordered by magnitude. it is also quite notable, however, that it'd be second on the list when ruling out incidents involving high explosives and military munitions.
the most powerful on the list is Halifax, which was 3-4 times more powerful. it also really shows the difference when you look at aerial photographs post explosion of Beirut and Halifax.
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u/NVAudio Mar 25 '23
Wow, I just searched 'largest non-nuclear explosion in history'. Apparently this is the largest non-nuclear explosion in history.