BEIRUT — Rescue workers dug through the rubble of a Beirut building for a second day on Friday, hoping to find someone alive more than a month after it was destroyed by a huge port explosion that shattered the Lebanese capital, Reuters reported.

Rescuers said on Thursday that sensors had detected signs of a pulse and breathing under the debris of the building in the Gemmayze district. Mechanical diggers lifted chunks of concrete and masonry as workers used shovels and their hands to dig down.

On Thursday, a pulsing signal was detected from under the rubble of a Beirut building that collapsed during the horrific port explosion in the Lebanese capital last month, raising hopes there may be a survivor still buried there.

The effort unfolded after the sniffer dog belonging to the Chilean search and rescue team first detected something as the team was going through Gemmayzeh Street in Beirut and rushed toward the rubble of a building. The street was one of the hardest-hit in the Aug. 4 explosion.

The team then used audio detection equipment for signals or heartbeat and detected what could be a pulse of 18 to 19 beats per minute. The origin of the pulsing signal was not immediately known but it set off a frantic search and raised new hope.

It is extremely unlikely that any survivors would be found a month after the blast that tore through Beirut in August when nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate ignited at the port.

The people of Beirut on Friday observed a moment's silence to commemorate the victims of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital. One month has passed since one of the largest explosions in history ripped through Beirut's port claiming the lives of at least 191 people and injuring thousands.

The blast, considered to be one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, damaged thousands of homes. — Agencies