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Beirut's governor broke down in tears during a TV interview at the scene of a massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday.

The blast flattened much of the city's port, damaged buildings across the capital and sent a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.

More than 100 people were killed and 4,000 injured officials said.

"It looks like Japan in Hiroshima or Nagasaki. This is what this reminds me of. I have never seen this amount of destruction", Governor Marwan Abboud said in an interview with Sky News Arabia.

It was unclear what caused the blast, which appeared to have been triggered by a fire and struck with the force of an earthquake.

It was the most powerful explosion ever seen in the city, which was on the front lines of the 1975-1990 civil war and has endured conflicts with neighboring Israel and periodic bombings and terror attacks.

The blast destroyed numerous apartment buildings, potentially leaving large numbers of people homeless at a time when many Lebanese have lost their jobs and seen their savings evaporate because of a currency crisis.

The explosion also raises concerns about how Lebanon will continue to import nearly all of its vital goods with its main port devastated.

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