Eastman Sounds Stir Nerves. Twice explosions on the same day in 1960 and 2017 are remembered. Loud steam releases from Eastman were loudly heard the evening of February 3, 2026 throughout the Kingsport area. It brought back memories of the October 4 1960 and October 4 2017 explosions. • "On October 4, 1960, Eastman Chemical Company suffered the worst accident in its 83-year history, when an aniline manufacturing facility exploded. Sixteen people were killed, and more than 300 injured, as a resul