NUKES: The Impact Of Nuclear Weapons Detonations On America’s Fifty Largest Cities

See the impact of a 1 megaton nuclear explosion on each of America’s 50 largest cities.

With the war in Ukraine still raging, and Russian leaders making continual references to their massive nuclear arsenal, our long denial distracted attention is once again unhappily returned to the existential threat presented by nuclear weapons.

It would be wise for us to take this opportunity to think more deeply about these weapons, for so long as they exist, everything we care about is at immediate risk.

One way to develop our understanding of this Biblical scale threat is to shift our focus from the big picture of a global nuclear war, an abstraction which is hard to wrap one's mind around, to a closer look at how a World War III scenario might affect each of us personally. Should we find the courage needed to examine our own personal risk situation, we'll find the following free tool quite useful.

Introducing NukeMap

NukeMap by Dr. Alex Wellerstein is a free interactive map which can demonstrate the effect of a nuclear detonation on any location. Dr. Wellerstein is a historian of science who specializes in the history of nuclear weapons and nuclear secrecy. You can explore more of his writings on his blog.

Once on the NukeMap page you can customize the display by choosing location, size of the nuclear weapon, and selecting any of a number of sophisticated options such as whether it is an airburst or surface detonation (and many other options).

Then you click the DETONATE button, and are shown a map displaying the effects of your selected type of detonation on your specified location.

The basic features of NukeMap are pretty easy for the average person to use, but making full use of all the provided options requires a considerable amount of detailed knowledge about nuclear weapons. Dr. Wellerstein is an expert on this subject, and so NukeMap has been designed to serve both the general public, and Dr. Wellerstein's professional peers.

A Simplified Version Of NukeMap

Given that few of us are nuclear weapons experts, and many visitors to this blog may prefer a quick look at the impact on the city where they live, you can follow any of the city links below to see a highly simplified impact map for each of America's fifty largest cities.

All of the following city maps come directly out of NukeMap, and all credit goes to Dr. Wellerstein.

• Albuquerque

• Arlington

• Atlanta

• Austin

• Baltimore

• Boston

• Charlotte

• Chicago

• Colorado Springs

• Columbus

• Dallas

• Denver

• Detroit

• El Paso

• Fort Worth

• Fresno

• Houston

• Indianapolis

• Jacksonville

• Kansas City

• Las Vegas

• Long Beach

• Los Angeles

• Louisville

• Memphis

• Mesa

• Miami

• Milwaukee

• Minneapolis

• Nashville

• New Orleans

• New York

• Oakland

• Oklahoma City

• Omaha

• Philadelphia

• Phoenix

• Portland

• Raleigh

• Sacramento

• San Antonio

• San Diego

• San Francisco

• San Jose

• Seattle

• Tucson

• Tulsa

• Virginia Beach

• Washington DC

• Wichita

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The following list shows the estimated deaths in each of America’s fifty largest cities for a 1 megaton nuclear detonation. Other estimates for different scenarios can be obtained on the NukeMap site.

• Albuquerque - 153,170 deaths

• Arlington - 162,040 deaths

• Atlanta - 234,870 deaths

• Austin - 218,080

• Baltimore - 343,250 deaths

• Boston - 599,080 deaths

• Charlotte - 161,210 deaths

• Chicago - 609,140 deaths

• Colorado Springs - 116,690 deaths

• Columbus - 224,150 deaths

• Dallas - 242,450 deaths

• Denver - 274,750 deaths

• Detroit - 249,890 deaths

• El Paso - 43,620 deaths

• Fort Worth - 150,690 deaths

• Fresno - 34,430 deaths

• Houston - 330,850 deaths

• Indianapolis - 179,900 deaths

• Jacksonville - 128,310 deaths

• Kansas City - 145,090 deaths

• Las Vegas - 297,630 deaths

• Long Beach - 264,350 deaths

• Los Angeles - 615,400 deaths

• Louisville - 174,010 deaths

• Memphis - 94,500 deaths

• Mesa - 167,550 deaths

• Miami - 257,360 deaths

• Milwaukee - 252,920 deaths

• Minneapolis - 312,760 deaths

• Nashville - 158,820 deaths

• New Orleans - 211,360 deaths

• New York City - 1,838,530 deaths

• Oakland - 264,910 deaths

• Oklahoma City - 130,500 deaths

• Omaha - 150,200 deaths

• Philadelphia - 458,560 deaths

• Phoenix - 221,330 deaths

• Portland - 265,130 deaths

• Raleigh - 136,800 deaths

• Sacramento - 222,000 deaths

• San Antonio - 215,930 deaths

• San Diego - 278,040 deaths

• San Francisco - 476,860 deaths

• San Jose - 641,600 deaths

• Seattle - 286,140 deaths

• Tucson - 168,520 deaths

• Tulsa - 132,770 deaths

• Virginia Beach - 42,860 deaths

• Washington D.C. - 549,100 deaths

• Wichita - 124,160 deaths

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TOTAL DEATHS for a one megaton nuclear detonation on all of America’s fifty largest cities is 14,012,260.

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