that would just spread around the area as the winds picked it up. not the case right now. not the concern, and, you know, priority number one, guys, is to go into homes and look for survivors. when we talk about the blast, though, the blast in and of itself, enormous, could cause it s own massive enormous devastation. a seismic event, registered 2.1. could be felt for miles and miles around. some people sent to the parkland hospital in dallas. that s fairly far away, have a sense of why they were sent that far away? reporter: you know, we re beginning get information on that the hospitals obviously, and as hospitals can be pretty tightlipped about, you know, conditions of their patients, so we are checking in, they are giving us new information that belongs to us. and we know here at this particular hospital, we should
search and rescue. this tiny community, less than 3,000 people. 50 to 60 homes they believe destroyed. difficult to find people. just after 12 hours after the explosion at the federa fertilizer plant. 50 to 60 homes, that blast felt as far as 15 miles away. it is key this is a fertilizer plant. dealing with chemicals, one called anhydrous ammonia. dangerous, potentially leithal. very little word of injury. we ll learn about how this chemical is. 160 plus people have been injured. we re getting numbers from local medical facilities where people are being treated right now. the police right now, they say they are treating it as a crime scene, but that is only because they need to find out more information. listen.
with so much of that substance. 50,000 pounds on the scene at one point in the fertilizer plant. elizabeth cohen, thanks to you. the easiest way to explain it, when it went up the blast could be felt 50 miles away. so powerful it was detected by equipment used to measure earthquakes. literally, the u.s. geological survey. they described it as a magnitude 2.1 seismic event. look at that chart. the first little blitz, that s the ground shaking. then you see a pause and then you see really the boom, the sound wave coming through. so really it hit twice. registered at stations that usually measure underground seismic events that were not close, miles and miles away. boy, oh, boy. the tragedy there being felt and responded to not just in texas. actually prompted pope francis to send out a special message to his more than 2 million followers on twitter about it. this morning the pontiff tweeted, quote, please join me in praying for the victims of
we re standing live in boston this morning, where there is a possible break in the marathon bombing case. investigators focusing on two men, caught on camera, who may may be connected. this as the president prepares to attend a prayer service this morning. thursday, april 18th. special edition of starting point begins right now. welcome to this special edition of starting point here in boston. i m chris cuomo with john berman. standing here now as we want to welcome back viewers here in the united states and around the world. so much news this morning. breaking news out of texas. just telling you about. this federrtilizer plant went ut 7:00 p.m. local time. this big blast, door-to-door
texas, about 18 miles away from waco. this blast so powerful. it registered as a 2.1 magnitude seismic event and wiped out everything for blocks. there are homes leveled. businesses leveled. it looks like when the blast occurred, that the concussion and the pressure impact, if that s the correct wording, literally destroyed homes in and around that plant. is. initial estimates by police say as many as 15 people may have died. firefighter who s responded to the blaze that preceded the explosion may be among those killed. 160 people being treated at area hospitals. george howell live in wake york covering the medical situation and mart iin savidge in west, texas. let s start with you, martin. what is the latest there?