From One Moment to the Next:
The Halifax Explosion

Halifax, Nova Scotia, December 6th, 1917

Photograph of the Explosion cloud taken on 6 December 1917, 13km away from Halifax. Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN ID number 3531262

At 9:05 a.m., a munitions ship blew up dockside in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

By 9:06 a.m.

• two square miles of Halifax were destroyed
• more than 1600 people were dead or soon died
• thousands of people were injured, including hundreds of eye injuries when windows shattered
• at least 9,000 people (15% of the city’s population) were homeless

Then a 20-foot tsunami created by the explosion swept through the damaged areas, scouring the land and leaving bare mud piled with debris. Fireplaces and furnaces caused fires in other areas, leaving acres of charred wreckage.

By 9:15 a.m. on Thursday, December 6, 1917, two square miles of a major Canadian city lay in rubble, and most of the undamaged area had no water or heat. All communication was lost with the outside world; the city had no telephone service.

That night, a blizzard hit the region, bringing gale force winds and temperatures of 10-15 F. Thick, wet snow soon hid the victims, hindered the rescuers, and halted relief trains; by morning, ice coated the streets and hills.

Halifax experienced the largest man-made explosion until the first atomic bomb was detonated over Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.

View The Exhibit Brochure:

• Brochure exterior
• Brochure interior

Further Information:

• Halifax Explosion Information from Wikipedia
• Halifax Explosion: In the blink of an eye...
• The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy by John Griffith Armstrong
• The Halifax Explosion at the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)
• Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, a made–for–television movie detailing the events of the Halifax Explosion
• Curse of the Narrows, by Laura M. MacDonald