It was evident well in advance that launching the highest thrust rocket in history would put an enormous strain on its launch pad. However, even SpaceX did not anticipate the extent of damage caused by the Super Heavy Starship.

Sources of information for this episode:
https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1649068688853671940
https://twitter.com/LabPadre/status/1649053476276797440
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649523985837686784

Space Flight News Twitter - https://twitter.com/spaceFnews

Recommended sources about spaceflight:
https://www.nasa.gov/
https://www.esa.int/
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/
https://spaceflightnow.com/