GENERAL COMPARISON OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

GENERAL COMPARISON OF HIROSHIMA AND
NAGASAKI
It was not at first apparent to even trained observers visiting
the two Japanese cities which of the two bombs had
been the most effective.
In some respects, Hiroshima looked worse than Nagasaki.
The fire damage in Hiroshima was much more complete;
the center of the city was hit and everything but the reinforced
concrete buildings had virtually disappeared. A
desert of clear-swept, charred remains, with only a few
strong building frames left standing was a terrifying sight.
At Nagasaki there were no buildings just underneath the
center of explosion. The damage to the Mitsubishi Arms
Works and the Torpedo Works was spectacular, but not

overwhelming. There was something left to see, and the
main contours of some of the buildings were still normal.
An observer could stand in the center of Hiroshima and
get a view of the most of the city; the hills prevented a
similar overall view in Nagasaki. Hiroshima impressed itself
on one’s mind as a vast expanse of desolation; but nothing
as vivid was left in one’s memory of Nagasaki.
When the observers began to note details, however, striking
differences appeared. Trees were down in both cities,
but the large trees which fell in Hiroshima were uprooted,
while those in Nagasaki were actually snapped off. A few
reinforced concrete buildings were smashed at the center
in Hiroshima, but in Nagasaki equally heavy damage could
be found 2,300 feet from X. In the study of objects which
gave definite clues to the blast pressure, such as squashed
tin cans, dished metal plates, bent or snapped poles and
like, it was soon evident that the Nagasaki bomb had been
much more effective than the Hiroshima bomb. In the description
of damage which follows, it will be noted that the
radius for the amount of damage was greater in Nagasaki
than Hiroshima.