The First Cities To Be Nuked
What cities would be nuked first? What U.S. targets and cities might a nuclear adversary most likely attack first? Although the answer would depend largely on the sought-after strategic outcome.
For example, the adversary may decide (first?) to strike the U.S military in order to limit the ability of counterstrike. In that scenario, the most likely first strike nuclear targets would likely be larger military bases and nuclear mission facilities. More on that below…
The adversary may also decide to hit major U.S. cities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American cities comprise less than 4 percent of the nation’s land mass, however they are home to nearly two-in-three Americans, approximately 63 percent of the population.
Would they need to nuke a lot of cities to get their desired outcome of defeat? Maybe not. Would a nuclear exchange be a tit-for-tat, or equivalent retaliation? Maybe, maybe not…
Will a nuclear exchange every actually happen, given the certainty of mutually assured destruction? Hopefully not. However, one never knows, especially given the proxy-nation-states who also have nuclear weapons – and a hatred for the U.S.
What countries have nuclear weapons, and how many? See the list below.
6 Cities To Be Nuked
This is an update section to the original post. Consider this… Let’s say the following seven cities were on the first nuclear strike list:
- New York City
- Chicago
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Washington, D.C.
They’re some of the most population-dense and largest cities in the country (see the larger list below). But even more so, their unique critical infrastructure value. For example, Energy, Financial, Tech, Government.
A nuclear strike on these U.S. cities would create a chaotic follow-on effect. As a result there would be widespread panic and chaos throughout other cities descending into mayhem.
GQ GMC-500 PLUS Geiger Counter Dosimeter
(view on amzn)
[ Read: 5 Nuclear Radiation Detector Choices ]
After the primary military command & control have been nuked…
After (or while) all of the primary military command and control centers have been nuked (Military Nuclear Targets), have you ever wondered which cities would be nuked first?
It’s an unpleasant thought! Therefore it is something that most people believe would never happen. Note that at one time between Russia and the United States alone, there were more than 20,000 nuclear warheads. Though apparently fewer these days, there are enough to destroy us all! See the list below…
Not that long ago during the years of the Cuban missile crisis, every American feared the worst, while the U.S. and the USSR were seemingly ready to end the world as we know it…
Since then, stockpiles have been reduced somewhat, but in the big picture it is mostly irrelevant. If anything, the world is more dangerous today as radical nations add their own nuclear weapons to the world’s nuclear arsenal.
Depending on the engagement (who, what, and to what end), military and/or key infrastructure targets may likely be hit first, but it won’t be long down the target list until major cities may be taken out.
In a worst case all-out nuclear engagement, we might consider that many or all cities could be hit, given the number of nukes that are available to countries like Russia and even China.
Top 30 Most Populated Cities
Regardless, most or many of us are at risk. However, a logical place to start the thought process may be this…
The following is a map highlighting the Top 30 most populated cities (and Metropolitan Statistical Areas – MSA) in the United States, followed by the population list for each.
The metro areas themselves are located in the middle of the yellow highlighted regions, and some of them overlap with the cities from the top-30 list (red).
The diameter of the colored regions simply represent a potential evacuation perimeter to escape nuclear fallout, although this will be widely variable depending on wind patterns, detonation (ground burst vs. air burst) and payload. It is a general illustration to help visualize an exodus.
I have included the locations of any operating nuclear power plants that happen to be located within any of the MSA’s and cities listed. They are highlighted for added risk assessment.
To see where all of the nuclear power plants are located within the United States, I’ve written the following article (and map)…
[ Read: US Nuclear Power Plant Locations & Live Wind Flow Map For ‘Fallout’ ]
What Cities Would Be Nuked First?
Simply food for thought. An ordered list based on population.
CITY LIMITS POPULATION
1. New York (8,175,133)
2. Los Angeles (3,792,621)
3. Chicago (2,695,598)
4. Houston (2,099,451)
5. Philadelphia (1,526,006)
6. Phoenix (1,445,632)
7. San Antonio (1,327,407)
8. San Diego (1,307,402)
9. Dallas (1,197,816)
10. San Jose (945,942)
11. Jacksonville (821,784)
12. Indianapolis (820,445)
13. San Francisco (805,235)
14. Austin (790,390)
15. Columbus (787,033)
16. Fort Worth (741,206)
17. Charlotte (731,424)
18. Detroit (713,777)
19. El Paso (649,121)
20. Memphis (646,889)
21. Baltimore (620,961)
22. Boston (617,594)
23. Seattle (608,660)
24. Washington (601,723)
25. Nashville (601,222)
26. Denver (600,158)
27. Louisville (597,337)
28. Milwaukee (594,833)
29. Portland (583,776)
30. Las Vegas (583,756)
METRO AREAS (population – millions)
1. New York (19.6)
2. Los Angeles (12.8)
3. Chicago (9.5)
4. Dallas-Fort Worth (6.4)
5. Houston (5.9)
6. Philadelphia (5.9)
7. Washington (5.6)
8. Miami (5.6)
9. Atlanta (5.3)
10. Boston (4.6)
11. San Francisco (4.3)
12. Riverside (4.2)
13. Phoenix (4.2)
14. Detroit (4.2)
15. Seattle (3.4)
16. Minneapolis-St. Paul (3.3)
17. San Diego (3.1)
18. Tampa-St. Petersburg (2.8)
19. St. Louis (2.8)
20. Baltimore (2.7)
21. Denver (2.5)
22. Pittsburgh (2.4)
23. Charlotte (2.2)
24. Portland OR (2.2)
25. San Antonio (2.1)
26. Orlando (2.1)
27. Sacramento (2.1)
28. Cincinnati (2.1)
29. Cleveland (2.1)
30. Kansas City (2)
IMPORTANT!
Following a nuclear detonation and fallout in your region, protect your thyroid from nuclear fallout:
iOSAT Potassium Iodide Tablets, 130 mg (14 Tablets)
(view on amzn)
World Nuclear Weapon Stockpile
Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda of the Federation of American Scientists are the leading experts in estimating the size of global nuclear weapons inventories. The table is a compilation of their estimates.
Total Nuclear Weapons by Country
Data updated June, 2021
- Russia (6,257)
- USA (5,550)
- China (350)
- France (300)
- UK (225)
- Pakistan (150)
- India (150)
- Israel (80)
- North Korea (20)
[ Ken adds: Iran? ]
Effects of a full-scale nuclear exchange on the United States of America
The following map is fascinating. I found it sourced from Martin Vargic of halcyonmaps.com who makes infographics and various maps. It’s based on data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Wikipedia.
He takes into account the normal prevailing wind direction as it may affect nuclear fallout. Food for thought…
“A list of United States military targets likely to be hit first compared with others. Although there are lots of military installations, the following military nuclear targets logically seem more likely than others to be on primary target lists.”
[ Read: Some of the Military Targets to be Nuked ]
“Based on a number of factors while looking at other maps and data including military installations, nuclear weapons storage and silo locations, bases, cities, etc..”
[ Read: US Nuclear Target Map ]
This is all simply food for thought. The talk of nuclear exchange has been hitting the news once again lately, so, I updated this original post from 2013. Since then, the article has hundreds of comments.
In my personal opinion, mutually assured destruction puts a HUGE damper on all this. After all, what crazy ‘leader’ would push the button knowing his own nation is going to get it next?
Although, on the other hand, it certainly would help with the globalists depopulation agenda, right?