Worst U.S. Explosions

Date: March 1, 1954
Location:Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands
Cause:Atmospheric Testing
Deaths:1

America declared this America's "Worst Nuclear Test in History." A scientific miscalculation made a 15-megaton explosion, equal to 1,000 Hiroshimas. Fallout from the blast contaminated the Marshall Islands. A crew member suffered fatal exposure to radioactivity.

Date: July 16, 1945
Location:Los Alamos, NM
Cause:Nuclear Testing
Deaths:0

The "Trinity Test" happened during the U.S. military's "Manhattan Project" while America worried about Germany developing a nuclear weapon. This was the first atomic bomb explosion. Its success showed America could build war-winning nuclear weapons.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

Date: April 16, 1947
Location:Texas City, TX
Cause:Industrial Accident
Deaths:581+

The Texas City explosion sounded 150 miles away. A fire on a French freighter carrying ammonium nitrate caused the blast. This created a 2,000-foot-tall mushroom cloud.

Date: March 2, 1965
Location:Cape Canaveral, FL
Cause:Launch Failure
Deaths:0

The biggest pad explosion at Cape Canaveral happened when the Atlas Centaur-5 rocket made a "development flight" and blew up. The rocket, fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen, destroyed the entire launch complex.

Source: NASA

Date: February 6, 1965
Location:Kaho'olawe, HI
Cause:Non-Nuclear Testing
Deaths:0

The Navy ran Operation Sailor Hat to mimic a nuclear explosion without using actual nukes. Using 500 tons of TNT, 20 by 40 feet long, the blast made a huge explosion and a condensation cloud above the shockwave and fireball.

Source: USSEngland.gov

Date: May 4, 1988
Location:Henderson, NV
Industrial AccidentDeaths:
22

The Pacific Engineering and Production Company of Nevada caused the American government $100 million worth of damage and injured 374 people, two of whom died. The specific cause of the disaster was never legally pinpointed, but the damage extended into a 10-mile radius of the PEPCON plant.

Date: March 11, 2003
Location:Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
Cause:Non-Nuclear Testing
Deaths:0

America's "Mother of All Bombs" tested under President George W. Bush during the Iraq War. The U.S. Air Force dropped 18,000 pounds of tritonal explosives from a plane. This created a smoke cloud rising hundreds of feet.

Source: CNN

Date: July 15, 2008
Location:Utah Test and Training Range
Cause:Non-Nuclear Testing
Deaths:0

Date: March 1, 1924
Location:Nixon, NJ
Cause:Industrial Accident
Deaths:20

The blast from a New Jersey power plant's accidental explosion was so massive that even people 50 miles away, in Mineola, NY, felt it. In addition to 20 fatalities, 100 people were injured as the fire still spanned a square mile six hours after the blast.

Date: December 19, 2007
Location:Jacksonville, FL
Cause:Industrial Accident
Deaths:4

The explosion at Florida's T2 Laboratories facility was one of the worst industrial accidents in the 21st century. The blast equaled detonating a ton of TNT, spread debris over a mile, and caused 14 people to be hospitalized from chemical exposure.

Source: CSB.gov

Date: October 23, 2009
Location:Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Cause:Oil Refinery Explosion
Deaths:0

The cause of the massive explosion, which caused fires, remains unknown, but three people were hospitalized. President Obama signed an Emergency Declaration for Puerto Rico as fires spread from the initial blast in the oil refinery.

Date: June 27, 1985
Location:New Mexico
Cause:Non-Nuclear Testing
Deaths:0

The Defense Nuclear Agency spent $38 million for the Minor Scale nuclear test. The detonation occurred in the Alamogardo Desert. It became the largest non-nuclear explosion in history set off by a non-Communist country.

Date:March 27, 1954
Location:Bikini Atoll
Cause:Atmospheric Testing
Deaths:0

The Castle Romeo explosion exceeded American military predictions. It became the third largest test in their history. It was also the first nuclear test conducted on a barge to avoid damaging the atoll's reefs.

Date: December 7, 1941
Location:Pearl Harbor, HI
Cause:Military Attack
Deaths:2,400

This famous photo of the USS ShawThe explosion showed America the true horrors of Pearl Harbor. During the attack in Hawaii, the USS Shawburst into flames due to the three deadly bombs hitting the port wing and the ship's front. About 2,400 Americans died in the attack overall.

Source: The Atlantic