What would it look like if a nuke was dropped on Alabama? Check out the potential impact on these cities

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August 6, 2015

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan where the world’s first and only ever nuclear offensive succeeded. The attack on the city, along with a strike to Nagasaki three days later, effectively ended combat in the Pacific Theater of World War II, leading to the unconditional surrender of the Japanese. Historians estimate that the cities lost between 129,000 and 246,000 people due to the initial blast radius and radiation sickness.

Since the arms race of the cold war, atomic weapons have only gotten more powerful. To demonstrate the potential effects of today’s weapons on the world, Alex Wellerstein of nuclearsecrecy.com created a “nuke map” where a user can input the name of the city and receive an estimate of the damage.

The results on Alabama would be catastrophic. The images below are maps of Alabama’s four most populous cities and the impact that Russia’s largest nuclear bomb would have. For each city, the fireball radius would be approximately two miles, the radiation radius almost five miles, the air blast radius would be about 20 miles, and the thermal radiation radius would be 48 miles.

Birmingham
Estimated fatalities: 516,360
Estimated injuries: 529,720