Nuclear Strike on NYC - Scenario

I've just read a very frightening article. It describes what could be a possible scenario, and the resulting carnage of a nuclear attack on New York City. The article begins with the scenario of a nuclear weapon being smuggled into the heart of Manhattan, and being detonated by terrorists. It then gives a second by second account of the devostation that would result.

This is pretty spooky to me. I would suggest people read it if for nothing more then the descriptions of what a nuclear detonation in NYC would create.

Horrific Scenario: NYC Hit by Terrorist Nuke
Detonating the IND in Midtown positions the bomb where the largest number of people would be located, in the many skyscrapers that house the city's offices. Assume the IND is detonated outside the Empire State Building at 11:45 a.m. Assume that the weapon is a 150-kiloton HEU gun-type bomb. Damage estimates can be scaled down to approximate damage and casualties should the bomb be a lower-yield weapon. Assume the day is the beautiful day that 9-11 was – clear and cool, few clouds in the sky, with a light wind from the east. Assume the population density is uniform, with an average of 125,000 people per square mile. Assume the bomb's shock wave spreads out evenly, not affected by the structures.

For the terrorists, the mission is a suicide mission. Those driving the truck will remain in place, acting normal, so those inside the truck can trigger the device before anyone becomes suspicious. Remote detonation of the IND, or timed detonation, would be too risky. The way to make sure the device explodes is to stay in place and trigger the detonation locally. All terrorists on the weapons delivery mission are vaporized as the weapon detonates.

1 second after detonation

Within the first second, a shock wave with an overpressure of 20 psi (pounds per square inch) extends four-tenths of a mile from ground zero. This destroys the Empire State Building and all other buildings within that radius, including Madison Square Garden, Penn Station and the New York Public Library. The reinforced steel in the skyscrapers does nothing to support them. Everything within the first four-tenths of a mile from ground zero is reduced to a pile of debris hundreds of feet deep in places. No one in this area survives or even knows what happened to them. The blast kills somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 people instantly. Those outside in direct line with the blast are vaporized from the heat. Those inside the buildings who survive the blast are killed as the buildings collapse.

The rest of the article continues on with the play by play of the devastation throughout the inital strike and the effect that it would have on the entire country.

The author even goes into some of the possible retaliation scenarios, and the effect those would have on the world as a whole.

sounds like 24 or maybe Tom Clancy novel

Wow! That is a very scary scenario. I almost wish I hadn't read it! The frustrating and frightening part IMHO is that there is not much we can do, as individuals, to protect ourselves from this sort of thing. We are completely at the mercy of our Government to make sure they catch the bad guys before the bad guys detonate a nuke!

Jemison

Here are some more Nuke simulations of a 1 Megaton Surface blast Pressure damage and fallout and a 25 megaton airblast

www.pbs.org...

I remember reading the fifth horseman from ...collins and lappierre ,the story is about terrorist planting a hydrogen bomb in new york city.

Good book, nower days i dont believe in dangerous islamic terrorists, but in a US government that will go any length to hold their power.

One of the things that really gets me is how NYC would just drop off the map. Not that it would actually completely disappear, but no word would be able to get out of the city for a VERY long time after it happens.

Think about it, most of the major networks are based in New York. Even 2 of the 3 cable news stations. They would just cease to exist. Even CNN based in Atlanta would not be able to report from New York. No one would know what was going on there for hours, if not days.

The chaos and uncertainty of our largest city going "dark" undoubtedly would cause pandamonium and panic.

The chaos and uncertainty of our largest city going "dark" undoubtedly would cause pandamonium and panic.

Exactly. We have become so spoiled with 24/7 news stations, reporters embedded with our troops in the midst of war, reading internet blogs from people at the scene of various things ... to be in a situation where all of that was suddenly gone and everyone knew 'something' happened but didn't know what ... it's mind numbing.

I guess the only 'eye-witness' accounts we would have to that type of nuke scenario would be from people who had either just taken off or were getting ready to land from one of the local airports. I'm assuming that if the plane was high enough up or far enough away to avoid being obliterated the pilot would be still be able to communicate and would let the authorities know about the mushroom cloud he just saw!

Of course, you always have the crazy reporters that would do anything for a story. Assuming that Geraldo Rivera was not at the Fox News station in New York when this occurred and was on location in Timbuktu, you can probably bet that he would take whatever iodide pill he thought would help keep him somewhat safe and then would recruit a crew and head straight to the center of NYC to do his own investigative story!

Jemison

GREAT read

SCARY YES, but GREAT too...

i have a question, how will communication across the country be gone???

is New York City the "hub" of communications for this country???

i dont get it...

and, who really thinks that our allies WOULD attack us???

Originally posted by they see ALL
GREAT read

SCARY YES, but GREAT too...

i have a question, how will communication across the country be gone???

is New York City the "hub" of communications for this country???

i dont get it...

and, who really thinks that our allies WOULD attack us???

All your major networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, are based in NYC. Any of there programing that originates from their would instantly be dropped. All of these networks have other locations they would have to switch to, but no information about what was happening in NYC would be available. Who knows how long it would take the satellite locations to realize they were down, and then after that, how long would it take them to get a feed up, to where they could report that, "We've got no idea what just happened, but it was something very bad".

Even that kind of a statement would send the masses into hysterics. Phone lines would be jammed by people all over the country trying to call loved ones. Cell phones in that area, forget it. And most of the ones throughout the country would be overloading the towers making even a call in Topeka Kansas difficult to get through.

Once the military was able to react, the most likely course of action for them would be a regionalized martial law, locking down the east coast. There's a myriad of reasons for them doing so, but the sheer fact that they did would be enough to cause additional panic.

And all of it, ALL of it, would be fueled even further by the fact that our information dependent society would be completely freaked out if they couldn't sit and watch NYC burn in the comfy blue glow of their TVs.

thanks...

i live in Yonkers, NY...

will i be able to see the cloud???

or will i be dead

thanks...

Originally posted by they see ALL
thanks...

i live in Yonkers, NY...

will i be able to see the cloud???

or will i be dead

thanks...

R.T.F.B.
Seriously, read the article. You wouldn't be in a good place, were this to happen, but most likely, if you knew it had happened, you could get to safety. I'm guessing, because while I know Yonkers is upstate, I don't know how far upstate.
Head for I-81, then head north to Canada.

i did read the article...

if this did happin, i would like to see the cloud...

Edit: never mind.

[edit on 4/22/2005 by the_oleneo]

This no matter how realistic it seems to be could never happen, for only one reason. No one would be crazy enough to do something like this. It would take minutes to retaliate. Everyone would in just a few miuntes know who is behind the attack. And the attacker, and his nation would be destroyed... Wiped out would be a better word though.

As for the article there are also some completely nonsense parts which are not even worth commenting on.

This is my message to subz and stumason: this is why Iran must NOT have nuclear weapons. Period.

"We must not permit the mad mullahs to have a nuclear capability they can turn clandestinely into a nuclear weapon to use in attacking America. That we might believe we can solve the problem diplomatically is exactly the conclusion the mullahs are praying we will come to."

Iran does NOT have nuclear weapons, and won't get any unless they make them out of sand.

Nuclear technology is not TNT. I doubt it would be quite as simple as the author of that scenario makes it seem. First, how will they get a small, portable nuclear weapon into NYC to begin with? And if they did, by the time it actually got to NYC from wherever it came from, whose to say it will be in working order? Not like anyone can test it, and nuclear weapons require complex maintenance to my knowledge. Then comes the issue of the government not knowing what happened which is laughable, they would know within a few minutes exactly what happened, and our nuclear command and control is not centered in NYC, or any one place in particular, but scattered so nobody could take away our ability to strike back, so the business about Russia or China seeing it as an opportunity to attack us with more nukes is hillarious. They would both feel our full retaliation, and China could not bounce back from thousands of nukes, they only have about 20. And then, the final most hillarious and ridiculous scenario, was Europe attacking us because we "saved them" in WWII, hardly a reason to attack somebody.

Actually Europe is the one stabbing knives in people's backs... And they are the ones saying they have their pride...

Originally posted by khruschev
Actually Europe is the one stabbing knives in people's backs... And they are the ones saying they have their pride...

Yeah, thanks......those cowardly back stabbing guys in iraq, afghanistan, balklands , etc ae really cowardly.
Thanks Ill pass along your congrats to the argyll's tommorow.

Originally posted by khruschev
Actually Europe is the one stabbing knives in people's backs... And they are the ones saying they have their pride...

You mean western Europe right, aren't you in Yugoslavia?