Damage from the A-bomb blast
　 　


Damage from the A-bomb Blast
At the instant of detonation, the heat expanded the air suddenly, generating a blast carrying pressure of several hundred thousand atmospheres. At 500 meters from the hypocenter, the atmospheric pressure per square meter was a huge 19 tons (roughly fifteen automobiles), powerful enough to collapse almost every structure. People were killed when the blast threw them or collapsed the buildings they were in.
The Workings of the A-bomb Blast. Reguires ShockWave.
  1. The atomic bomb exploded.
  2. A super-hot fireball was generated, expanding the surrounding air with ferocious power.
  3. A wall of air spread faster than sound.
  4. The air behind this wall was a blast.
  5. As the blast spread, the air pressure near the hypocenter plummeted from high to low in an instant (creating negative pressure).
  6. The air blowing out from the hypocenter reversed direction; wind swept back in toward the center with tremendous force.
  7. Negative pressure worsened the damage caused by the blast.
A person whose eyeballs were popped out by negative pressure (500 meters from the hypocenter)
August 10, 1945
The momentary drop in air pressure after the powerful blast burst people's eyeballs and internal organs out of their bodies. 		A person whose eyeballs were popped out by negative pressure
　
Photo: Satoo Nakata
　
Glass removed from people's bodies
The powerful blast splintered glass into tiny fragments that pierced people's bodies. Even now some survivors have glass embedded in their bodies.
Glass removed from people's bodies
Glass fragments removed from bodies
The blast knocked the roof off this building (roughly 360 meters from the hypocenter).
The interior of the Hiroshima Branch of the Imperial Bank. Both ceiling and floor were blown away by the blast.
The blast knocked the roof off this building
Photo: Toshio Kawamoto