What if the Tsar Bomba Hit New York City?
In 1961, the USSR dropped the most destructive nuclear bomb to ever be tested: the Tsar Bomba. This weapon had the combined power of 50 megatons of TNT and an even stronger version was in development, but it was never completed. Now if this monstrosity was detonated in the heart of New York City, what exactly would happen? Let's say the bomb is detonated right where the empire state building stands. Firstly, the entirety of Manhattan would be in the radius of the initial fireball. That means almost 99.9% of its residents would die, which is around 1.6 million people. The entirety of New York City and some parts of New Jersey would be hit with a moderate blast. Buildings would collapse and injuries/deaths would be widespread throughout this radius. Even though the bomb was detonated in New York, almost a quarter of New Jersey would be affected by thermal radiation. This means that the inhabitants of this quarter of the state would most likely receive third-degree burns, despite being nearly 40 miles away from the blast. Estimations show that around 7.5 million people would die if the nuke was detonated and another 4 million would be injured. For comparison, the single deadliest day in human history is said to have been the result of an earthquake in 1556 that killed about 850,000 people. If this nuke actually went off and 7.5 million people actually did die, it would be the new deadliest day in history with a count nearly 9 times that of its runner-up. If all of this can result from just a singular nuke, imagine what would happen if the world fell into nuclear war.
