破裂
はれつ · haretsu · JLPT N1 · noun
rupture
💥 破 break + 裂 split = break and split apart: rupture or explosion
Both characters are about breaking: 破 means smash or destroy, 裂 means crack or split. Together they describe something bursting apart, whether a rupture or an explosion.
破 — stone 石 + skin/hide 皮
破 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 (stone) gives the meaning 'to break, smash,' since stones were used to crack things, while 皮 (pí) supplies the sound. The original sense of breaking stone broadened to mean 'broken,' 'damaged,' or 'to defeat.'
裂 — 列 (liè, phonetic) + 衣 (clothing)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 衣 'clothing' gives the meaning and 列 supplies the sound. The original sense was tearing or splitting cloth, which broadened to 'split, crack, rupture' in general. The 衣 component is written split around 列 rather than on the side.