You can see the devastation everywhere: in the hollowed out shells of barely-standing buildings, in the anguished faces of relatives waiting for news of loved ones, in the rows upon rows of incinerated cars.
But what was it that set off the terrifying blasts that ripped through warehouses housing hazardous chemical materials; that sent fireballs shooting across the sky, that shook tall buildings more than 2 miles away?
A day later, amid the destruction in this northern Chinese port city of more than 13 million, the exact cause remained unclear.
A chemical odor hung in the air. Fires still burned in the industrial district where the explosions went off. And the grim toll kept mounting.
At least 44 are confirmed dead, 12 firefighters among them, state media reported Thursday. More than 500 are hospitalized, 66 with critical injuries. Dozens of firefighters are missing.
Local authorities suspended firefighting efforts because of a lack of information about the “dangerous goods” stored at the warehouse at the heart of the blasts, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The blasts originated at a warehouse site owned by Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics Co. Ltd., a company that stores and transports dangerous chemicals, according to Xinhua. Company executives have been taken into custody, state media said.
The explosions’ destructive force tore through Tianjin, smashing buildings and crushing shipping containers.
The first blast was huge, but the second was even more powerful — the equivalent of 21 metric tons of TNT, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The power of the explosions destroyed the house where Qian Jiping and his wife, both of them migrant construction workers, were staying.
“When I heard the first explosion, I thought we were finished,” he said.
Strangers pulled them from the rubble. They fled barefoot, desperate to get away, barely feeling the jagged shards of glass strewn across the ground.
Further out across the city, residents reported that shock waves had shattered windows and fish tanks.
“I thought it was an earthquake! I was extremely scared. I was afraid my family was in danger,” said Liu Yue, a 25-year-old woman who lives about 4 kilometers (2½ miles) from the site of the blasts. She said the entire 16-floor building she lives in was rocking.
The injured were taken to different hospitals in the city, and people gathered outside, waiting for news of loved ones.
“Why did God take her? Why did God take my daughter?” one man cried out.