SAN ANTONIO – An online tool is giving people across the world a better sense of what could happen if their city was the target of a nuclear attack.
Nuke Map, an interactive mapping tool created by Alex Wellerstein in 2012, gives people estimated damage diameters by selecting from various types of nuclear war heads.
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Nuke Map App
Wellerstein's online app allows people a wide range of nuclear weapons to choose from, calculating an estimated number of injuries and fatalities according to the weapon selected.
After people in Hawaii received an alert of a possible ballistic missile threat in error, many are wondering what the implications of an attack could be in their own area.
If early defense systems in Hawaii can get it so wrong, we ought to assume North Korea could make a similar mistake—and fire its missiles in what it believes is self-defense. Wars can begin because of miscalculation or error. We need to walk back from the brink.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) January 14, 2018
According to the Nuke Map, if North Korea's latest nuclear weapon was dropped on San Antonio and burst mid-air, nearly 200,000 people would be injured in the blast and 84,000 would be killed.
Wellerstein developed another tool that calculates how much damage certain missiles could do.
Wellerstein's online app has been used more than 135 million times.