On Thursday, an explosion at Chenjiagang Chemical Industrial Park in Xiangshui County, China, killed at least 64. Some reports estimate that as many as 640 others could have been injured, with at least 90 seriously injured.
The blast is said to have caused a magnitude-2.2 earthquake, registered by the China Earthquake Administration Thursday afternoon.
The site of the explosion was immediately set ablaze. The force of the explosion pushed glass and debris as far as 5 kilometers from the impact site, injuring residents of the surrounding town and damaging infrastructure. Residents report their windows and glass doors being broken by the force.
Over 900 firefighters and emergency personnel were dispatched to the area to contain the fire, but close to 3,000 workers and 1,000 residents were advised to evacuate the area, writes the New York Times.
The plant produced pesticides, and officials registered abnormally high levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides roughly 2 miles away from the site on Thursday night. No abnormally high concentration was registered as of Friday. However, worry surrounds the status of the Guanhe River, which is in close proximity to the plant. Portions of the river have been reported to be contaminated, which could drastically affect wildlife, soil integrity, and availability of drinking water.
Though the source of the blast has not been confirmed, it is believed that a truck transporting gas had caught on fire.
In the wake of the incident, many have cried foul at China's lax regulatory laws surrounding chemical production. China, however, is not the only place that experiences like devastation— just last week, on March 14, the dumping of chemicals in the Kim Kim River in Malaysia was reported. The report assessed that 506 people in the surrounding region had contracted methane poisoning, prompting the closure of 111 schools.
In these cases, the immediate impact is far from the only impact. Chemical disasters disrupt lives— where evacuations and school closures are necessary, education and work are halted. The regional food supply is affected, and the availability of clean drinking water shrinks. Prices in the market will fluctuate. Health complications may present themselves years down the road, as toxins may remain in the air, water, and soil. Hospitals may become overcrowded, and care may become difficult to obtain. Tighter regulations and keen oversight of chemical manufacturing on behalf of national governments is the only way to keep life-shattering incidents like these in check.