Tensions with Russia are rising, and the possibility of a nuclear attack is back on the table. If the United States is targeted, El Paso, Texas, and Arizona will be severely impacted.
Newsweek used maps created by Alex Wellerstein, a professor and nuclear technology historian, to assess the impact of a Russian nuclear strike using their most powerful missile.
One in the El Paso range, which extends into Mexico and north to Alamogordo, would kill 849,010 people and injure 952,950.
According to Newsweek, a mid-air blast would have minor effects nearly 4,000 miles away from the point of detonation. Broken windows, possibly minor structural damage, etc. The most immediate consequences, in the main blast zone, are quite horrific.
The fireball radius (inner yellow circle), in which everything would be vaporized by intense heat rising to millions of degrees F, would reach around 15.1 square miles. The more moderate blast damage radius (inner gray circle), covering 442 square miles of the blast, would destroy residential buildings and probably cause widespread fires.
Anyone within 2,360 square miles of the explosion (the thermal radiation radius: wider orange circle) would be at risk of suffering third-degree burns throughout the skin, “often painless because they destroy the pain nerves,” which can cause severe scarring, disablement and require amputation. – Newsweek
How Many Would Be Hurt Or Killed In A Nuclear Blast?
Based on the average number of people in the area over any given 24-hour period:
- Houston = 1,238,500 dead, 1,995,390 injured
- Dallas = 1,045,700 dead, 1,957,170 injured
- San Antonio = 761,840 dead, 754,110 injured
- Albuquerque = 417,980 dead, 359,500 injured
- Phoenix = 972,050 dead, 1,475,300 injured
What About Other Cities?
You can use the same interactive map that Newsweek used to “nuke” your preferred city and see the results for various types of bombs and detonations.
