This page shows a simulation of the Topol (SS-25) (currently in Russian arsenal) (800 kt) nuclear bomb (800 kt) detonated over Los Angeles, CA, USA. The map displays the estimated fireball, the zones of heavy, moderate and light blast damage, thermal radiation and ionizing radiation. Click «What does that mean?» for a detailed legend, or run your own detonation on the main page.
The 800-kiloton warhead of the Topol (SS-25) is the kind of weapon a strategic missile actually carries today — about 50 Hiroshimas, delivered in roughly 30 minutes. On this map it is an airburst, the height chosen to maximise the area of heavy blast damage. The fireball is about 1.8 km across; total destruction (20 psi) reaches roughly 2.6 km, residential collapse (5 psi) about 6.5 km, third-degree burns on exposed skin about 11.5 km, and broken windows with flying-glass injuries (1 psi) about 20 km.
What that means in Los Angeles
Centred on downtown Los Angeles, the 2.6 km zone of total destruction covers the Civic Center, the Financial District, Little Tokyo, Chinatown and Union Station. The 6.5 km collapse ring reaches Echo Park, Boyle Heights, USC and Exposition Park, and the warehouse districts along the river; burns to 11.5 km extend to Hollywood, Koreatown, Dodger Stadium, Glendale's southern edge and Huntington Park. The 20 km ring of broken glass touches Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Burbank, Inglewood and Compton.
Los Angeles is unusually spread out, so a single warhead of this size damages a smaller share of the metro area than it would in Manhattan or Paris — but more than 5 million people live inside the outer ring. The hills of Griffith Park and the Santa Monica Mountains would cast real terrain shadows to the north; the basin to the south is open. See the 100-megaton scenario for a weapon that would cover the whole basin.
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