This page shows a simulation of the Topol (SS-25) (currently in Russian arsenal) (800 kt) nuclear bomb (800 kt) detonated over Philadelphia, PA, 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 Philadelphia
Centred on City Hall, the 2.6 km zone of total destruction covers Center City from the Schuylkill to the Delaware — Independence Hall, Rittenhouse Square, the Convention Center and 30th Street Station. The 6.5 km collapse ring crosses the river to Camden, New Jersey, and reaches the Art Museum, Temple University, University City and the Navy Yard's northern edge; burns to 11.5 km extend to Germantown, Kensington, the sports complex in South Philadelphia and Cherry Hill. The 20 km ring of broken windows reaches the airport, Manayunk, Frankford and Upper Darby.
Philadelphia has about 1.6 million residents, Camden another 70,000 across the river, and the outer ring contains well over 3 million people. The terrain is flat river plain with no natural shielding. Compare with the 100-megaton scenario, which would reach Wilmington and Trenton.
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