News of a massive warehouse explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut shocked the world yesterday, and Twitter was awash with video footage showing the explosion and its resulting shockwave devastating the city.

It has since been revealed by official sources that the explosion was the result of a fire interacting with several tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate. To put things into perspective, this was the same type of substance - used in a smaller quantity (2 tons vs the 2.7 tons in Beirut) - by domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh to blow up a government building in the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995.

If you'd like to help, please donate to the Lebanese Red Cross or to one of relief organizations listed here.