II. The Damage Caused by the Atomic Bomb

At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945 (the 20th year of Showa era) an Atomic Bomb was dropped and exploded 500 meters (about 1/3 miles) over Matsuyama-machi, one of the northern sections of Nagasaki.

The number of the dead	73,884
The number of injured	74,909

The estimated population at that time was 210,000.

The number of the victims

120,820

This is the number of people whose homes were completely destroyed or burnt down within a radius of 4 km (2.5 miles).

The number of houses entirely burnt down within the radius of 1km (2/3 miles)	11,574
The number of houses partially destroyed within the radius of 4km (2.5 miles)	5,509

A total of 18,409 houses were damaged or destroyed, representing all the houses within a radius of 4km (2.5 miles).

This was 36% of all the homes in Nagasaki.

Many people who survived continue to suffer from radiation-related diseases, and face the terror of a death that may call on them at any moment.

Property Damage

After the explosion destroyed all houses and buildings within 1km of the hypocenter, fires broke out and burned everything down. Houses within a 4km radius were initially only partially damaged, but the fires that broke out later at various places completely destroyed them, too.

This occurred in an industrial zone in the northern part of the city. Areas that were completely burned encompassed 1/3 of the city.

Physical Damage

Heat Rays

The Atomic Bomb generated intense heat rays when it exploded. These heat rays burnt to death almost all the people who had been near the hypocenter of the Atomic Bomb. Those who lived within 2 km of the hypocenter were severely burnt, and those within 4 km were burnt on the bare parts of their bodies.

Temperature of Fireball: 300,000°C — 1,000,000°C (540,000°F — 1,800,000°F)

The melting point of iron is 1,530°C

Atomic Bomb Blast

The strong blast from the Atomic Bomb splintered wood and glass into pieces and scattered them like showers of bullets, injuring a great number of people.

Radioactive Rays

The most conspicuous feature of the bomb was the radioactivity emitted by the explosion. The process of nuclear fission produces great quantities of rays, including gamma, neutron, beta, and alpha.

Those people in open and unprotected areas, especially within 1km of the hypocenter, were bathed in fatal radio-active rays. It is also supposed that those people within 1,500 to 2,000 meters (0.09 to 1.02 miles) were severely injured by radioactivity. In addition, many of those who entered the hypocenter area right after the atomic bombing and those who dealt with the dead later had physical problems from residual radioactive rays.

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