CHICAGO NUKED

An Ohio class submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles with up to 12 MIRVed W-76 or W-88 nuclear warheads, for a total of 288 nuclear warheads. The map below shows the effect of just 1 W-88 Trident D-5 warheads with a yield of 455kt detonating over downtown Chicago.

FIREBALL RADIUS: 0.60 square miles Maximum size of the nuclear fireball; relevance to lived effects depends on height of detonation. If it touches the ground, the amount of radioactive fallout is significantly increased.

AIR BLAST RADIUS: 35 square miles At 5 psi overpressure, most residential building collapse, injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread. Often used as a standard benchmark for medium damage in cities.

THERMAL RADIATION RADIUS: (3rd degree burns) 90 square miles Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation.

AIR BLAST RADIUS: 280 square miles At around 1 psi overpressure, glass windows can be expected to break. This can cause many injuries in a surrounding population who come to a window after seeing the flash of a nuclear explosion. Often used as a standard benchmark for light damage in cities.