Australian Angela Zene Hadchite told Sky News the bombs fell near where she was waiting to board a ferry to Turkey.
“There was just two bombs, they just bombed twice very close by to us,” she said. “I can see smoke ... but I don't know what direction it came from. The floor just shook beneath us."
Mrs Hadchite said she believed the bombs were from an Israeli aircraft and described the scene in Beirut as chaotic and unbearable.
"There's about two to three hundred-odd people waiting to get on to that ship to take us on the 13 hour journey to Turkey," she said.
"I'm not used to seeing dead bodies, and bombing and hearing the kids scared.
“There's no clean drinking water, there's a limited supply of
fresh fruit and vegetables."
The Australian Government faces a logistical nightmare in evacuating thousands of its nationals from Lebanon.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned the port of Beirut was becoming congested as Britain, Canada, the United States and other countries sent ships to pick up their citizens.
Around 200 Australians have already been bussed to Syria to escape bombing raids launched by Israel last week after the militant group Hezbollah kidnapped two of its soldiers.
"People have got to understand that this is a war zone and it is extremely difficult to get people out of a country which is subject to military attack,” Mr Downer said.
Prime Minister John Howard defended the rescue effort.
"It is a chaotic situation and it is easy to criticise a limited number of foreign affairs personnel who are operating in very stressful circumstances," he said.
More than 7,000 Australians are registered with the embassy in Lebanon.
Canberra has said there 25,000 Australian citizens living in Lebanon, although the vast majority had dual nationality and did not plan to leave.
Members of Australia's Lebanese community have criticised the government’s evacuation effort.
Rockdale town mayor Shaoquett Moselmane said the Government had shown no urgency.
"It could only be described as shameful in the full meaning in the word,” he said.
Others complained it was impossible to access the Internet to read government bulletins, and questioned why Australia was not broadcasting advice on Lebanese television as other countries were doing.