NEW video added at the bottom, shows tank collapsing into pool fire and many other angles and close-ups.
In March of 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated the Tohoku area of Japan. This disaster included some of the most significant BLEVE type failures of LPG spheres ever recorded, at the Chiba refinery near Tokyo. Fireball diameters of greater than 200 m (650′) were recorded on video by news helicopters.
In the first video, we can see the initial fires around the spheres. The 2nd video is the BLEVE captured from afar. The 3rd video is after the BLEVE, and the resident went out to see what happened and was taping.
NOTE 1: somewhat of an official timeline of the events from the company – CLICK HERE
NOTE 2: for those in process safety, YOU MUST read the timeline and how the spheres failed. The first failure was a sphere what was undergoing hydro-static testing and was full of water. The fire and the weight of the water caused the sphere to collapse starting a cascading effect. The sphere survived the earthquake, but the fire impinging on its supports and the weight of the water was too much.
NOTE 3: See this company video on some excellent information about the refinery and some “before” photos showing the spheres. http://www.idemitsu.com/products/factory/chiba_video.html