Explosion in Texas

[richlevy]

Ammonal nitrate is half of the ingredient to make ammonal explosives. These were used in WWI in large quantities with devastating results.

From early 1916, the British Army employed ammonal for their mines during World War I, starting with the Hawthorn Ridge mine during the Battle of the Somme. Three of the mines used at the Battle of Messines, which were exploded at the start of the Third Battle of Ypres (a.k.a. Battle of Passchendaele), contained 30,000 lbs (over 13.6 metric tons) of ammonal. A fourth contained 20,000 lbs (over 9 metric tons). The British Army detonated 19 ammonal mines under the German lines, killing 10,000 in the deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion in history.

Photo of aftermath (NSFW)

Many of the German troops at the battle of Messines were in trenches and were killed by the shockwave travelling through the earth.

While these were prepared explosives combining Ammonium Nitrate with powdered aluminum, it was still 50,000 lbs compared to the massive amount of pure Ammonium Nitrate in the facility.