Israel says it has destroyed major underground Hezbollah base

BREAKING: Israel says it has destroyed a major underground Hezbollah base in southern Lebanon, using over 1,000 tonnes of explosives to collapse 2km of tunnels, with the blast registering as a magnitude 4.1 earthquake on US Geological Survey monitors.

A blast so big it registered as a magnitude 4.1 earthquake.

Israel's military says it packed more than 1,000 tonnes of explosives into two Hezbollah tunnels under the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon and collapsed over two kilometres of them in a single detonation. Israeli forces took that ridge last week after months of fighting. The IDF says the complex held a command centre for Hezbollah's Badr unit, dozens of rockets, missiles and drones, all built over two decades with Iranian funding.

In Nabatieh, six kilometres away, a resident told the BBC the sky lit up and fifteen seconds later came the sound. Houses shook, children cried, and the roads filled with cars heading for Beirut. Tremors were felt in Saida, forty kilometres north.

No response yet from Hezbollah or the Lebanese government. Israel still occupies roughly five percent of Lebanon, and calls it a security zone. The families driving north tonight call it home.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.