NASA image shows intensity of deadly Lac-Megantic derailment

The intensity of the fire that tore through Lac-Megantic, Que. is shown in this image released by NASA. A side-by-side comparison of two images captured by a NASA satellite shows Lac Megantic on July 4 (left) and the town just over an hour after a runway train carrying crude oil derailed. (NASA)

An image captured on a NASA satellite about an hour after the Lac-Megantic train disaster shows the intensity of the fire that tore through the town after the runaway train derailed early Saturday morning.

The NASA image shows an intense light coming from the small town in Quebec’s Eastern Townships just before 3 a.m. on Saturday, July 6.

An image taken by the same satellite two days prior shows Lac-Megantic as a small speck of light.

The images were taken using the space agency’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, which detects signals such as city lights, auroras, fires and reflected moonlight.

The train derailment has left 15 dead and at least 45 others missing.

At one point up to 2,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes around the blast site in Lac-Megantic's downtown. Several hundred residents remain out of their homes and area staying at emergency shelters, with friends or in hotels.

The train was carrying 72 tanker cars full of shale oil from North Dakota, and was destined for an Irving oil refinery in Saint John, N.B.