La sera del 4 agosto 2020, alle 18:08 [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]], si sono verificate molteplici '''esplosioni nella città di [[Beirut]]''', la capitale del [[Libano]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Massive explosion shakes Lebanese capital, buildings near Beirut port reportedly damaged|url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanese-capital-buildings-near-beirut-port-damaged-1.9046138|accessdate=4 August 2020|date=4 August 2020|last1=Khoury|first1=Jack|last2=Landou|first2=Noa|website=Haaretz|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805065959/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/massive-explosion-shakes-lebanese-capital-buildings-near-beirut-port-damaged-1.9046138|archive-date=5 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Le esplosioni si sono verificate nel [[porto di Beirut]] e hanno causato la morte di oltre 135157 persone, altre 80 disperse e più di 5.000 feriti.<ref>{{Cita news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/lebanon-orders-house-arrest-officials-beirut-blast-live-200805230752876.html|titolo=LIVE: Lebanon investigators get four days to find blast culprits|data=6 agosto 2020|lingua=en|accesso=6 agosto 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2020/Aug-05/509878-lebanon-mourns-beirut-blast-toll-expected-to-rise.ashx|title=Beirut blast death toll hits 100 as Lebanon mourns |website=www.dailystar.com.lb}}</ref><ref name="guardian-count">{{Cite news|title=Lebanon: at least 78 killed as huge explosion rocks Beirut|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/04/huge-explosion-beirut-lebanon-shatters-windows-rocks-buildings|last=Chulov|first=Martin|date=4 August 2020|access-date=4 August 2020|work=[[The Guardian]]|last2=Safi|first2=Michael|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804160549/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/04/huge-explosion-beirut-lebanon-shatters-windows-rocks-buildings|archive-date=4 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="guardian.live.2020.08.04">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/04/beirut-explosion-huge-blast-port-lebanon-capital|title=Beirut explosion: dead and wounded among 'hundreds of casualties', says Lebanon Red Cross live updates|first1=Oliver|last1=Holmes|first2=Peter|last2=Beaumont|first3=Michael|last3=Safi|first4=Martin|last4=Chulov|date=4 August 2020|website=The Guardian|accessdate=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804201541/https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/aug/04/beirut-explosion-huge-blast-port-lebanon-capital|archive-date=4 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jazeera.live.2020.08.04">{{Cite web|last=Gadzo|first=Mersiha|title=Dozens killed, thousands wounded in Beirut blast: Live updates|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/huge-explosion-rocks-lebanon-capital-beirut-live-updates-200804163620414.html|access-date=4 August 2020|date=4 August 2020|website=Al Jazeera|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804210957/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/huge-explosion-rocks-lebanon-capital-beirut-live-updates-200804163620414.html|archive-date=4 August 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Il governatore di Beirut [[Marwan Abboud]] ha stimato che fino a 300.000 persone sono rimaste senzatetto dalle esplosioni.<ref name="AJE 05-08" /> L'esplosione principale è tra le più grandi e potenti registrate da un esplosivo non nucleare.
L'esplosione principale è stata causata da circa 2.750 tonnellate di [[nitrato di ammonio]] che erano state confiscate dal governo da una nave abbandonata e immagazzinate nel porto senza misure di sicurezza adeguate per i sei anni precedenti. Le stime di [[Equivalente in TNT|effetti equivalenti]] per l'esplosione sono circa 300 tonnellate di TNT.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/lebanon-beirut-explosion-live-updates-dle-intl/h_da222628bccbcd0736247682b65a8675 |title=Beirut explosion rocks Lebanon's capital city |website=CNN}}</ref> Il giorno seguente gran parte degli incendi erano stati spenti.
