How many people would get killed if an atomic bomb struck New York?

A nuclear bomb dropped on New York City could kill 264,000 people — the most of any city on this list. The city's total injury count would also be harrowing: About 512,000 people would be hurt.

1. What cities would be nuked first?
2. Where would a nuclear bomb hit in the US?
3. How much would a nuclear bomb destroy?
4. What if a nuke hits NYC?
5. Where is the safest place to survive nuclear war?
6. Is Nagasaki still radioactive?
7. How far away from a nuke is safe?
8. Who nuked Japan?
9. How many nukes does it take to destroy the world?
10. Can one nuclear bomb destroy a country?
11. What is the biggest nuke in the world?
12. Is a megaton a million tons?
13. What if a nuclear war broke out?
14. Where does the president go in a nuclear war?
15. What would a nuclear winter be like?

What cities would be nuked first?

The Scenario

The cities that would most likely be attacked are Washington, New York City and Los Angeles. Using a van or SUV, the device could easily be delivered to the heart of a city and detonated.

Where would a nuclear bomb hit in the US?

A nuclear attack on US soil would most likely target one of six cities: New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Washington, DC. But a public-health expert says any of those cities would struggle to provide emergency services to the wounded.

How much would a nuclear bomb destroy?

The volume the weapon's energy spreads into varies as the cube of the distance, but the destroyed area varies at the square of the distance. Thus 1 bomb with a yield of 1 megaton would destroy 80 square miles. While 8 bombs, each with a yield of 125 kilotons, would destroy 160 square miles.

What if a nuke hits NYC?

A nuclear bomb dropped on New York City could kill 264,000 people — the most of any city on this list. The city's total injury count would also be harrowing: About 512,000 people would be hurt.

Where is the safest place to survive nuclear war?

DO: Find a brick or concrete building, such as a school or office. FEMA identifies brick or concrete buildings as the safest forms of shelter after a nuclear attack. Ideally, the best shelter would have few to no windows and a basement for camping out.

Is Nagasaki still radioactive?

The radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today is on a par with the extremely low levels of background radiation (natural radioactivity) present anywhere on Earth. It has no effect on human bodies. ... Roughly 80% of all residual radiation was emitted within 24 hours.

How far away from a nuke is safe?

Death is highly likely and radiation poisoning is almost certain if one is caught in the open with no terrain or building masking effects within a radius of 0–3 km from a 1 megaton airburst, and the 50% chance of death from the blast extends out to ~8 km from the same 1 megaton atmospheric explosion.

Who nuked Japan?

The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.

How many nukes does it take to destroy the world?

It would take just three nuclear warheads to destroy one of the 4,500 cities on Earth, meaning 13,500 bombs in total, which would leave 1,500 left. 15,000 warheads are the equivalent of 3 billions tons of TNT and 15x the energy of the Krakatoa volcano, the most powerful volcanic eruption ever.

Can one nuclear bomb destroy a country?

They are considered the most destructive weapons in the world - their explosions are so powerful, just one nuclear bomb could destroy an entire city. Nukes, as nuclear weapons are known, are far more damaging than even the biggest normal, non-nuclear bombs.

What is the biggest nuke in the world?

Testing The 'Tsar Bomba': The World's Most Powerful Nuclear Bomb. The most powerful nuclear bomb in history went off on October 30, 1961, over the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlya.

Is a megaton a million tons?

nuclear weapon yields

words kiloton (1,000 tons) and megaton (1,000,000 tons) to describe their blast energy in equivalent weights of the conventional chemical explosive TNT.

What if a nuclear war broke out?

Besides the immediate destruction of cities by nuclear blasts, the potential aftermath of a nuclear war could involve firestorms, a nuclear winter, widespread radiation sickness from fallout, and/or the temporary (if not permanent) loss of much modern technology due to electromagnetic pulses.

Where does the president go in a nuclear war?

The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC, PEE-ock) is a bunker-like structure underneath the East Wing of the White House. It serves as a secure shelter and communications center for the president of the United States and others in case of an emergency.

What would a nuclear winter be like?

The nuclear winter scenario assumes that 100 or more city firestorms are ignited by nuclear explosions, and that the firestorms lift large amounts of sooty smoke into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by the movement offered by the pyrocumulonimbus clouds that form during a firestorm.