When the armory exploded, trees were uprooted and massive stone lion sculptures were thrown over the city walls, according to Medium. One report claimed that “the sky and earth collapsed” and it was dark as night despite the explosion coming in the early morning. The blast was heard from nearly 1,300 miles away, which would mean somewhere around 20,000 tons of TNT went off, equivalent force to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. A cloud was said to hang over the sky after the explosion, similar to the mushroom cloud effect. No one is quite sure what caused the initial explosion. Mishandling of the massive stockpile of gunpowder is a common theory, as is deliberate sabotage. Some reports from the survivors even point to a mid-air meteoric explosion colliding with the armory.

Besides the obvious loss of life and property, the explosion had an extreme effect on the political landscape. The infant prince was killed by falling debris, the only heir to the throne, and the emperor died a year later. His brother’s reign was an ambitious failure, and just 18 years after the explosion, the Ming Dynasty had fallen. Some called it divine retribution for their corruption and misdeeds, and with the sheer destruction caused by the Wanggongchang Explosion, it’s not hard to see why.