This page shows a simulation of the 100000 kt nuclear bomb (100000 kt) detonated over Honolulu, HI, 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.
100 megatons was the design yield of the Soviet AN602 — the Tsar Bomba — before its final stage was throttled back to 50 for the 1961 test. No weapon of this size was ever deployed: the bomb weighed 27 tonnes, no missile could lift it, and the arms race moved towards many smaller warheads instead. This scenario is therefore a physical ceiling, not a military one. The rings are enormous: a fireball about 12 km across, total destruction (20 psi) to roughly 13 km, collapse of houses (5 psi) to about 32 km, third-degree burns on exposed skin to about 75 km in clear weather, and broken windows (1 psi) out to about 100 km.
What that means in Honolulu
Centred on downtown Honolulu, the 13 km zone of total destruction covers Waikiki, the airport, Pearl Harbor, Aiea and the whole urban core up to the Koolau ridge. The 32 km collapse ring takes in Kaneohe, Kailua, Kapolei, Waipahu and Mililani — nearly all of Oahu's million residents. Burns to 75 km and broken windows to 100 km cover the entire island, from Waianae to the North Shore, and reach across the channel to Molokai. Honolulu's mountains would normally shield the windward side, but at this yield the fireball is high enough to look over most ridges. The 800-kiloton scenario is the realistic version.
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