What Would Happen if a Nuclear Bomb Goes Off in Your City?

Now of course you should never play with matches, let alone a nuclear bomb. If you have a bomb, you are a terrorist, and I hate you. This map is just an FYI, to go along with the nuclear bomb testing video posted below.

From Carlos Labs:

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a nuclear bomb goes off in your city? With Google's Maps framework and a bit of Javascript, you can see the outcome. And it does not look good.

The list of weapons contains bombs of historical significance - but what happens with modern, nuclear-assertive countries not in the list?
France: has a similar to "B61", also deployed by jet fighter.
India, Pakistan: equivalent to "Fat Man". Probably larger.
Iran, Syria: deny having a bomb. Yet. Smaller than "Little Boy".
Israel: denies having a bomb. Ever. As big as "Joe-4".
North Korea: equivalent to "Little Boy". Probably smaller.
South Africa: had "Little Boy", but renounced nuclear weapons.

Wonder what the differnt colored rings mean? Click on the red tear drop in the middle for an explanation.

Have Fun!


Science Caveat

I designed the script to show the usage of Javascript functions on top of a Google Map. The radius of a nuclear explosion seemed entertaining and facetious enough for this demonstration. The thermal effects of the blast are shown here because they are easily understood by users of all ages and cultural backgrounds.

It's hard to describe the lethal radiation dose, in Sieverts, to a school kid.

In a real-life scenario, the area of thermal damage is affected by a multitude of factors; including the terrain, mountains, and height of the explosion. This script does not assume these factors.

The formulas used here are in the public domain, and were sourced from the websites of the Federation of American Scientists and from Wikipedia

8 comments:

PersonWithQuestions said...

This is Nerv racking but interesting. What are the type of nuclear missles used today?

Notoriously Conservative said...

I agree, it is. I'm not sure what is used today. Well, I suppose nothing is used today. But were it to be used, I believe they have a vast array of sizes, from city block levelers, to large city/territory destroyers.

Joey Sturgill said...

I'd a little nervous after looking at this, because there are hardly any bomb shelters in the part of Ohio, in which I live. I suppose it would be very "Fallout"-y? This is very scary to look at, but I think people should know what could happen.

Anonymous said...

Well I conclude from looking at this, if anyone ever nuked Washington DC I'd be fucked

Anonymous said...

Well, Id be kinda of OK surviving the inicial blast from a 50mt Nuke from my nearest city (Cardiff) I would only get 1st degree burns. But fallout would be a little nasty as there are no shelters. And anyway, who would nuke wales

Anonymous said...

wow. I clicked "asteroid impact" expecting my state to be destroyed...it was the whole dang continent.

Anonymous said...

what do the colors mean or can i have a key of some sort please?

Anonymous said...

F bombs, no pun intended.

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