Photos of the Aftermath of the Massive Explosions in Tianjin, China

Late on the night of August 12, a series of ferocious explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored, sending massive fireballs into the sky above the port city of Tianjin, China. The blasts killed at least 50 people and injured more than 700, Chinese state media reported. Nearby residents woke to find a devastated industrial landscape of incinerated cars, toppled shipping containers, burned-out buildings, and broken windows for miles around. The exact cause of the disaster is still being investigated. See also: A Chinese City Recovers After Massive Explosions.
Read more
Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • © Karsten Mosebach / GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025

    Winners of the GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2025

    A collection of winning and honored images from this year’s nature-photo competition

  • ESA / Hubble & NASA, K. Noll

    The 35th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope

    A collection of amazing recent images made with the Hubble Space Telescope

  • Andrew Harnik / Getty

    Photos of the Week: Pony Run, Corgi Race, Rocket War

    Mourners of Pope Francis gathered at the Vatican, scenes from the the second weekend of Coachella 2025, a humanoid-robot half-marathon in China, and much more

  • Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty

    Photographing the Beauty of the North

    Images of the people, animals, and landscapes of the Earth’s arctic and subarctic regions, photographed by Olivier Morin