by the author of Be Ready for Anything and the course Bloom Where You’re Planted
Did you ever think about the places close to you that would be potential targets for a nuclear strike by an enemy? If you’re reading this website, chances are, the answer is yes. But how would a strike to that nearby target affect you?
The 4 factors of a nuclear strike
In the event of a nuclear strike, there are four things to consider. The numbers below are in the event of a 300 kiloton bomb:
- The Fireball: Everything in this range would be disintegrated, It is nearly a one-mile radius and also called Ground Zero.
- Radiation: A wave of deadly radiation would affect everything within 5.5 miles. This will cause lung injuries, severe burns, deafness, blindness, and internal bleeding. Anyone in this range who survives the immediate danger is likely to suffer from radiation poisoning in the upcoming weeks.
- The Shockwave: A shockwave of incredible power would spread throughout a range of about 11.5 miles. Also called the blast wave, this highly compressed air will travel at high velocities (up to 470 mph), destroying nearly every building in its path.
- The Heat: Heat from a nuclear blast would travel almost 50 miles. This heat can ignite fires and cause first degree burns.
You can plug any town into this website and see how far the effects of a nuclear strike would reach.
This is a link to the nuclear strike simulator.
You can check out our on-demand webinar, Nuclear Survival with an Army NBC Specialist, for detailed information on how to prepare for the potential of a nearby nuclear strike and what to do if it happens. This article has some instructions as well. And for a printable anthology of all of our nuclear survival information, go here.
Where are nuclear strikes most likely to take place?
It depends. There are all sorts of variables with regard to nuclear targets. While most of us would think that cities like New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles would be more desirable because of high population density, the targets are more likely to be strategic militarily.
This article from Business Insider states that cities aren’t the most likely targets anymore and that targeting has “shifted from cities to nuclear stockpiles and nuclear war-related infrastructure.” The map below shows the theoretical targets of an attack by Russia.
Photo credit: Business Insider
However, if North Korea were to attack the United States, the goals would be different, at least based on a North Korean propaganda photo from 2013.
In Hawaii, one of the closest targets to North Korea, the US military bases Pacific Command, which is in charge of all US military units in the region. San Diego is PACOM’s home port, where many of the US Navy ships that would respond to a North Korean attack base when not deployed.
Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana holds the US Air Force’s Global Strike Command, the entity that would be responsible for firing back with the US’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Washington D.C., of course, is the home of the US’s commander-in-chief, who must approve of nuclear orders. (source)
The North Korean target map looks like this:
Photo Credit: Business Insider
What about radioactive fallout after a nuclear strike?
If a nuclear strike occurs and you are outside the range of the issues above, the next risk is the radioactive fallout.
The significant hazards come from particles scooped up from the ground and irradiated by the nuclear explosion. The radioactive particles that rise only a short distance (those in the “stem” of the familiar mushroom cloud) will fall back to earth within a matter of minutes, landing close to the center of the explosion. Such particles are unlikely to cause many deaths, because they will fall in areas where most people have already been killed. However, the radioactivity will complicate efforts at rescue or eventual reconstruction. The radioactive particles that rise higher will be carried some distance by the wind before returning to Earth, and hence the area and intensity of the fallout is strongly influenced by local weather conditions. Much of the material is simply blown downwind in a long plume.
Rainfall also can have a significant influence on the ways in which radiation from smaller weapons is deposited, since rain will carry contaminated particles to the ground. The areas receiving such contaminated rainfall would become “hot spots,” with greater radiation intensity than their surroundings. (source)
Radioactive fallout can cause myriad health problems
You can be exposed to these particles when you eat plants, milk, or meat contaminated by fallout. The biggest risk is thyroid cancer, which is why those who live in a place where there is a risk of fallout should stock up Potassium Iodide pills. (Here’s how to take them to prevent cancer due to radioactive fallout.) A Stanford University study warns:
Nuclear fallout poses health dangers, particularly in the form of cancer, to humans in the form of radiation. When radioactive chemicals break down they release a certain amount of radiation. When humans are exposed to this radiation there is a risk that it causes chemical changes in cells which can kill or makes cells abnormal. In damaging the DNA contained in cells, radiation can cause cancer and can also lead to birth defects in children due to the tampering with a person’s genetic makeup. (source)
The other variable for the nuclear strike simulator
The last and scariest variable is this: how big is the bomb? On the map above, you can plug in different types of nuclear warheads for different results. If a Tsar bomb (the largest ever detonated in Russia) struck Washington, DC, it would demolish a substantially larger area. The death toll would reach 1,830,780 people, with injuries to nearly one and a half million more.
As you can see, with a 50,000 KT bomb, the numbers are entirely different.
- The Fireball: Everything in this 3.7-mile radius would be disintegrated
- Radiation: A wave of deadly radiation would affect everything within a 32-mile radius. This will cause lung injuries, severe burns, deafness, blindness, and internal bleeding. Anyone in this range who survives the immediate danger is likely to suffer from radiation poisoning in the upcoming weeks.
- The Shockwave: A shockwave of incredible power would spread throughout a range of about a 27-mile radius. Also called the blast wave, this highly compressed air will travel at high velocities (up to 470 mph), destroying nearly every building in its path.
There is an enormous difference in the scale of nuclear weapons
This video gives you some idea of the scope.
Do you live near any of the potential nuclear targets?
When you look at the maps above, are you close to any of the likely targets? How will you prepare for the potential of attack? Without access to proper medical care, you may wish you’d have checked out our Herbal Skills Intensive. A massive power outage might make you wish you had some type of archive of prepping information to take with you as you evacuate. Perhaps it’s bugging out you need to freshen up on.
Whatever you do, get prepared now. Because, aside from 10 years ago, it’s the best time to do so.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at Self-Reliance and Survival.com. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
I am within (266 mi) of the 345-470 mi range of the shock wave (blast range) of Kings Bay naval base. Best not to survive it, there will be no reason to live after this hellish incident. Nothing will grow, and radiation poisoning will eventually kill off millions. Glad we never raised kids, I was in the “duck and cover” generation that harped on nuke war in the 50’s ’60’s to “ban the bomb” ,etc. (ban the sale and manufacture of the A and Nuke bombs had demonstrations in large cities)
The miles are square miles. Find the square root of the square miles divided by 3.14 to see how far you need to be from the center to avoid even the heat. This is based on the formula for finding the area of a circle (area = (pi)(radius squared). For a 470 square mile range, that would be about 12.25 miles from the center..
If you are outside the blast zone, nuclear war is survivable. Joel Skousen has some reliable information on survivability and precautions to take.
There is also something called “relocation” 🙂
You’re glad you never raised kids?…
Well, I’m raising 3 kids, and I will do whatever it takes to see that they survive—and that I do. And I’m a heck of a lot closer to the nearest likely target than most – around 7 or 8 miles as the crow flies. Since moving isn’t an option right now I’ve taken a good, hard look at the data. Here’s what I found:
The bombs most likely to be used to hit strategic military targets like the base(s) close to us would be around 500-800 KT, maybe 1 MT. My understanding is that unless the goal is to reach something underground like a missile bunker, it’s unlikely to be bigger than 1 MT; additionally, it’s more likely to be an airblast than a surface blast in this case. If you go to nuclearwarmap you can find the most likely targets for your state (as well as the most likely bomb size, air blast vs surface blast, etc.) Find the nearest one to your home.
Next, go to nukemap and set that target. You can type in the city and then drag the pin to get precise. Set the other parameters (you can adjust the advanced settings to see the fireball range, overpressure rings, ionizing radiation rings and thermal radiation rings, as well as the likely path of fallout, but you’ll have to do them separately to see them clearly) and hit detonate. You’ll see what happens in your neighborhood if a bomb hits the nearest target.
For me, at only 7 miles away, assuming a 1 MT arblast at the nearest military base, I am already outside the range of the fireball. I am outside the range of the blast (psi) damage. I’m outside the range of the instant ionizing radiation. The thermal heat blast would be the biggest initial risk; anyone who happened to be outdoors when it hit would probably not survive, as they’d almost certainly have 3rd degree burns covering their body. The thermal blast goes really far — I’d need to be 17+ miles away to be in the completely safe burn-free zone. However, if we were indoors and not by a window directly facing the blast, we’d likely survive the initial blast. We’re outside the radius where dry wood burns, but would likely have wildfires heading our way from multiple directions unless they burned out when they hit the highways between us and the targets in our area. So in my case I need to take that into account.
But bottom line — in most cases, if you’re more than 5 miles away from the target and inside when it hits, it’s possible to survive if you have somewhere nearby to shelter from the oncoming radiation. Even at just 7 miles out, if we survived the first minute after a 1MT airblast we’d have 20 minutes or so before the radioactive debris started raining down on us. If you have a basement you’re already halfway there. Depending on your location and proximity to target(s) you’ll need to take wildfires, utility explosions, flying debris, etc. into account. And, depending on proximity there will be a lot of variable and luck involved; being close to your shelter, being indoors if within the thermal blast range, not being caught in a raging wildfire… but it’s still potentially surviveable if you have a plan.
If you’re HUNDREDS of miles away and have a basement?? Don’t even tell me it’s better if you don’t survive. Your job is easy compared to mine.
Now, whether or not you’d WANT to survive, well, that’s up to you. I’d know I’d want to – or at least try. Whatever happens, I’m not going to be that steerage passenger on the Titanic who tells her kids a bedtime story, tucks them in and just waits to die while the ship goes down.
Thanks for this great information. I’ve been curious about whether or not we would get blasted where we live – about 70 air miles from Malstrom AFB on the opposite side of the Continental Divide. It looks like we would be out of the blast zone of a strike directly on Malstrom, and the winds don’t usually come to us from that direction, but there are LOT’S of missile silos between here and there. It would seem to me those silos would be targets as well. The closest ones to us are about 30 miles, so I suppose we will most likely be toast. This is scary stuff – thanks again for sharing!
You must be a neighbor. I live West of the Continental Divide opposite from Great Falls. I think I’ll be okay because I’m some 80 miles west of the nearest missile silo. Big mountain range between the silos and me and prevailing winds are west to east.
Do the world a favor and nuke the DC warmongers , leave the rest of us alone.
so true, aim for pelosi’s house
Ok, guess I’m obtuse. I can’t find the Blast Simulator to check my address.
Use a main street near yours – just the street name, along with the city and state.
I can’t find the link either.
Sorry about that – I’ve updated the article to make it more noticeable. Here’s the link for your convenience.
https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/interactive/bomb-blast/
Sorry about that – I’ve updated the article to make it more noticeable. Here’s the link for your convenience.
https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/interactive/bomb-blast/
From a Tsar bomb: “Heat from a nuclear blast would travel 3200 miles. This heat can ignite fires and cause first degree burns.”
Doesn’t seem like they’d have to drop too many of those to bring us to our knees. MapQuest says only 2,689 mi from San Diego to Washington, DC. While I don’t expect bombs of this magnitude, even one-fourth of this is chilling.
Kate,
I believe the 3200 miles is based on square miles, not lateral ….3200 square miles
Fish, thank you for your diplomatic response. I should have caught on to that fact when I was using the Blast Simulator! Also, I was looking for info on the influence of prevailing winds. Figure in US most flow generally west to east. Any formulas to predict the distance radiation can/will travel?
Thanks for your service in the war against ignorance and complacency.
So a bunch of Madison WI lefties all worried about global warming put this together? Alrighty then.
“We are a team of thinkers, experts, and scientists”
Who happen to share an address with a pilates studio, a belly dance and yoga studio and a fight club.
I truly don’t think we need to plan for the consequences of a 300 kiloton bomb. That could only be deployed by a nation-state, and that nation-state would have to be willing to accept retaliatory annihilation afterwards. I think we are far more likely to experience a 10 kiloton “suitcase nuke” deployed by stateless organizations. I think it is more reasonable to plan to survive a 10 kiloton.
Clunky and hard to use simulator. I don’t need this to tell me what will happen if a nuke drops on my head; I need to know what happens when a target is nearby and where fallout will go.
Much better simulator here: http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=200&lat=21.3069444&lng=-157.8583333&hob_opt=1&hob_psi=5&hob_ft=5991&casualties=1&humanitarian=1&fallout=1&ff=50&therm=_3rd-100,_3rd-50,_2nd-50,_1st-50,35&zm=11
I really believe they would use tactical style nukes, except in certain situations. Why? if they are going to actually conquer the USA they want our resources, land, oil we are not drilling(supposedly enough for 20 years), farmland , and remember too many Bombs mean major fallout around the world hurting them as well.
China, in their papers by their defense secretary argued that point above exactly, they want to conquer and occupy us, not obliterate the resources, which quite frankly if we didn’t have the nutcases now in office that we do have enough
Natural resources to be energy independent and pay off all our deficit to boot
and that includes freshwater .
At this point , one has to come to the conclusion that Joe Biden is intent on destroying the last democracy and leading us into the great reset, aka a system in which freedom is a distant memory. Quite frankly, the hunger games looks like our future, they will force us into cities and stack and pack us , into one bedroom apartments, while they live in mansions, i should say it will be like the movie Soilet Green too, we will be limited in our use of everything, will will own nothing, there will be no travel for us , we will have limited use of electricity, it will be hell and we will be totally monitored and you will have to follow their narratives…no thanks ,,,they will get about 7 years until the King of King Jesus returns and sets things straight, Accept him now and live a free , wonderful life as it was intended in heaven and with the Lord, only through his leadership will we be totally at peace.
Thank you for your response, I believe yours description is very accurate, especially the last part, Lord Jesus we are waiting for your glorious return.
Why are the uncivilized barbarians in InfraGard acting like the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Weather Underground, the Manson Family, and the German Nazis?
Only criminals believe that they are entitled to violate other people’s rights and only criminals believe that the law does not apply to themselves. Any order that violates the constitutional rights of others is a confession of high crimes and treason and is not a law.
Qualified Immunity for police and State Secret exemptions in testimony are in all practicle terms titles of nobility which are also prohibitted in the constitution. State Secrets clauses allow anyone in government to do whatever they want, to whomever they want and never be held accountable for it, unless they happen to do it to someone else in government. People are not immune from prosecution simply because they are police, because that suggests that they are exemot from the law. Only criminals live by the ideology that they are exempt from the law.
Doesn’t work – 32’000 dead with a 800kt direct strike in London centre??? Add at least 1 zero to that!
It was a known fact that the United States had bioweapons labs in Ukraine after the Skripal poisoning. Novichok was just one of the dangerous bioweapins in the labs. There are actually 30 in Ukraine, and 300 bioweapons labs operated by the United States in other countries. These biowaeapons appear to be used for murder through Munchausen Syndrome and would appear to be contracted by the governments in the countries that they are operated in for assassination for various reasons ranging from power, intellectual property, being a victim of a person in power that does not want the evidence of the crime which happens to be the victim of the crime, money, or property.
Maybe it was true after all that the Bush administration knew that Iraq had WMDs if they had such a facility in Iraq. They were claiming chemical weapons facilities at that time.
The United States contractors opened more bioweapons facilities in Ukraine in 2005 after the orange revoloution.
These are not research facilities.
To claim that they are research facilities is truly a sick, sadistic, disgusting Nazi Josef Mengele mentality. Even if they claim to be researching on animals, it is sick to deliberately infect a living being with a disease. Since zoonotic diseases can jump from species to species, it is also just plain stupid.
End the Nazi Mengele research and Munchausen mentlity!
These people are sick, evil, sadistic terrorists! They belong in prison!
Andrea Iravani
The problem with this calculator is that Russia has most of its nukes in the Megaton range – 25 on up to 300 Megatons. A Kiloton nuke would be a battlefield tactical nuke used against enemy ground forces. For those of you thinking about hiding in your 500 foot underground hidey-hole – forget it. Russians have their bunker-buster nuke that BORES its way into the ground, then explodes.
It’s best to be many, many miles away from any potential nuclear target.
I’m surprised Norfolk, VA. wasn’t on the list. Tried it 3 times, plus another nearby city, and it wouldn’t work. Already know it’s a high key target but wanted to see potential damage to area. Thank you, though.
try the cobalt bomb data
Anything out there also showing predictive weather patterns affecting fallout dispersal over the US?
I live closer to 70 miles from a target base with hills inbetween. But on the mountain above me there is Air Force training land. They practice mountain rescues and my sons say there are silos up there also. That would put me quite close with a couple of low ridges separating my tiny community from that area. From the Air Force base where nucs are stored under the mountain it’s a good 70 miles with many low but successively higher ridges. It a 2,300 ft climb up to where I live.
I still have my mothers community safety book called Last Aid instead of First Aid. She kept info and a guiger counter incase we’d gotten into a nuclear war. She’d have been the community organizer. Late 1950s through 1971. When Dad retired and they moved she kept the books and equipment to become a community organizer in their new small rural community that was growing. They had government connections for life. I’ve wondered how much communities were aware of people trained to step in and take charge in emergencies if we’d been in a nuclear war? First aid, showering, how to quickly seal off inside a hospital or community building were parts of the planning. That old book is interesting. It was named Last Aid as the assumption was many would be dead and or beyond medical help for that time.
Once humanity has adopted a culture of death for its own survival, then it is impossible to survive being part of the culture of humanity.
Nukes don’t work as advertised.
Would they really be stupid and crazy enough to do that?
Only the most stupid people in the world would create a country that tortures, terrorizes, falsely imprisons people in their own homes, illegally enslaves them through spying on them, steals from them, vandalizes their property, cuts off their communications through hacking, and gas-lights their own citizens, because then they and their loved ones will have to live in a country that does that to its own citizens, or leave the country, but they did it anyways!
Those are the things that they have done to me. This latest psy-op of theirs against me has been going on for eight years.
Who are they? InfraGard, the WHO, and “healthcare” workers.
They are short sighted evil fools determined to learn about karma the hard way.
Who would want anything to do with a society that allows people to get away with torturing, terrorizing, doing sick Mengele like nazi experimentaion on without informing people or receiving consent, falsely imprisoning people in their own homes or elsewhere, illegally enslaving people by spying on them and stealing from them, vandalising their property, ex-communicating them through hacking, gas-lighting, organized community stalking, and online organized community stalking of people?
The people that do things like that to other people are not wild animals, because wild animals do not do things like that, only evil monsters do.
You would really have to be a retarded lunatic that would want anything to do with a society that did and allowed things like that to be done to people, but all of those things have been happening to me for the past eight years in Ozaukee County in Grafton, Wisconsin, USA.
Andrea Iravani
Lindsey Graham Folding Up Like a Dirty Diaper
We are one step closer to nuclear war because Lindsey Graham has proven to be more stupid than Biden, leaving the Republican Party looking more stupid than the DNC.
Lindsey Graham is stupid enough to want to create a no fly zone in Ukraine if Putin uses chemical weapons. Where have we heard things like that before? Oh, Syria. Of course the terrorists will use chemical weapons if they think that it will further their cause, and of course Graham knows that, which is why he laid it out on the table.
Graham also lambastes Biden for not having U.S. troops fly Polish MIGs from Germany to Ukraine. If the Poles want to send MIGs to Ukraine, why don’t they just fly them to Ukraine themselves?
The Republicans will be able to thank Graham and Rubio for any seats that they lose if there will be a 2022 election or a 2024 election.
Why are people saying that the U.S. has to get cobalt from Russia? Because they are cheap and want to pay lower prices? Probably. I oppose the sanctions against Russia. It is hurting America more than it is hurting Russia.
The U.S. gov geological survey says that we have cobalt deposits in Alaska, California, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Several deposits and prospects were not included in this database, because they contain less than 1,000 metric tons of cobalt. There are also cobalt deposits in Puerto Rico, that receives Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaide, and votes but does not pay taxes. Talk about a sweet heart deal!
I recall having read about cobalt deposits in the U.S. in past also.
A University of Wisconsin professor said that when he saw the 1/6 stop the steal, that Trump remided him of Immelda Marcos. All of the politicians in the United States act like Immelda Marcos. They believe that the law does not apply to themselves. They are using public high offices for their own personal enrichment. They are almost all extremely wealthy. When compared to Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Buffet, and Gates, it doesn’t seem like that much, but the fact that those individuals have gotten away with what they have is because the Marcos like politicians are basically blackmailing them for it and enriching themselves over it, while their crime spree continues unabated. Only criminals live by the ideology that it is ok to violate other people’s rights, and only criminals believe that the laws do not apply to themselves. Unfortunately, the criminals are controlling the country.
The median networth of congress members is $900,000. The median networth of senators is $3.2 million. The median networth of an entire household in America is $121,760.
The United States government showed that it is more afraid of the written word than it is of protests when the United States and Ukraine were the only countries that did not vote to condemn any Nazi or pro Hitler celebrations, or holocaust denial.
The United States government is not threatened by such radical, ignorant lunatics, because the majority of Americans are not Nazi, pro-Hitler holocaust deniers.
The United States government is more threatened by people that are critical of its present policies of being anti-Putin and
anti-Russian than they are of people that are pro-Hitler.
Since Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning have received America’s “diplomatic treatment” for exercising freedom of the press guaranteed in the 1st amendment, and since Abu Zubaydah, who was a writer, and is still being falsely imprisoned in Gitmo, and has never been charged with any crime, but remains there just for the sake of not embarassing the government for its evil crimes, if you really want to defeat the government, the pen has always been mightier than the sword.
It is why they are constantly banning people from social media.
You really have to wonder though how it is that the thirty pro-Ukrainian NATO nations, in addition to the pro-Ukrainian countries that are not NATO members signed onto that at the UN, while simultaeneously supporting Ukraine that is suporting Neo-Nazis to empower itself.
Very weird virtue signalling between those that signed onto it that are pro-Ukraine, and the United States for claiming that it did not sign it because it violates free speech with the repeated 1st amendment violations by America
Al Jazeera has reported along with others that two journalists were shot by Russians while they were in a car. It is strange though. One of the journalists was a former NewYork Times reporter and was wearing a Times badge named Brent Renaud. My guess is that it was a New York Times badge and not LA Times or Fincaial Times, or any other paper other than the New York Times. The New York Times said that he no longer worked therewhen they were called. Al Jazeera has been an unreliable source over Ukraine and Russia. It was apparently purchased by the CIA according to an article that I had read about it, and I am not sure if that is true or not. It is definitely a NATO narrative though that Al Jazeera has adopted, and it could have been purchased for MI6 just as easily, or even the Mossad.
We could very quickly knock out a large percentage of the criminal class if those that are supporting the Ukrainians militarily and financially had to go and actually fight the Russians on the front lines. It is time for people to stop calling them the elite. Everything about them is inferior.
Everyday brings new prospects. I hope to survive. I can’t wait to see what happens next. 🙂 I have faith the Aliens will prevent a Nuclear War on this planet… hopefully. 🙂
Your maps forgot S.A.C. headquarters in Colorado.
I don’t see where an address can be used to see the possibility of being close to a nuclear explosion. That was the only reason I opened this article.