I thought I was going to die: Tianjin residents recall their long night of fear
Some thought it was an earthquake. Others, a nuclear bomb. But it was unlike anything before
Residents of Tianjin, the largest port in the mainland's north, were stunned when a huge explosion sent a massive fireball into the sky and blasted shockwaves into their homes several kilometres away on Wednesday night.
The midnight sky lit up, windows were shattered, doors blown off, furniture destroyed and metalwork on vehicles buckled. Some thought it was an earthquake - one in nearby Tangshan in 1976 was the world's deadliest in the 20th century - while others said the scene looked like a nuclear explosion.
"I was in the bathroom and the building suddenly started to shake violently," said Gao Xiaorui, who lives a few kilometres from the explosion site.
"It felt like the building was about to collapse. I was scared to death."
Gao recalled that her residential building was immersed in the bright light of the explosion - before the area was plunged into darkness when the power failed.
Fearing for her life and her unborn child, Gao - who is eight months pregnant - ran down 16 floors of a dark, smoke-filled stairway. "I thought I was about to die," she said.