Following the destructive atomic bombings on Nagasaki and Hiroshima a quarter to a third of the population were killed by burns, trauma, or radiation.
Hiroshima
"Hiroshima's population has been estimated at 350,000; approximately 70,000 died immediately from the explosion and another 70,000 died from radiation within five years" (Rosenburg).
Approximately two thirds of Hiroshima was destroyed by the Little Boy atomic bomb and "within three miles of the explosion, 60,000 of the 90,000 buildings were demolished" (Rosenburg). According to The Manhattan Engineer District 60% of immediate deaths in Hiroshima were due to burns, 30% to falling debris, and 10% to other factors like radiation. The dropping of the atomic bomb Little boy accounted for 70,000 immediate deaths and 70,000 injuries in Hiroshima.
"In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand, nearly a hundred thousand people had been killed or doomed at one blow; a hundred thousand more were hurt. At least ten thousand of the wounded made their way to the best hospital in town, which was altogether unequal to such a trampling, since it had only six hundred beds, and they had all been occupied" (Hersey 25).
Approximately two thirds of Hiroshima was destroyed by the Little Boy atomic bomb and "within three miles of the explosion, 60,000 of the 90,000 buildings were demolished" (Rosenburg). According to The Manhattan Engineer District 60% of immediate deaths in Hiroshima were due to burns, 30% to falling debris, and 10% to other factors like radiation. The dropping of the atomic bomb Little boy accounted for 70,000 immediate deaths and 70,000 injuries in Hiroshima.
"In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand, nearly a hundred thousand people had been killed or doomed at one blow; a hundred thousand more were hurt. At least ten thousand of the wounded made their way to the best hospital in town, which was altogether unequal to such a trampling, since it had only six hundred beds, and they had all been occupied" (Hersey 25).
Excerpt from John Hersey's book "Hiroshima"
The patterns of clothes burnt onto skin by the heat rays
"The eyebrows of some were burned off and skin hung from their faces and hands. Others because of pain, held their arms up as if carrying something in both hands. Some were vomiting as they walked. Many were naked or in shreds of clothing. On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns-of undershirt straps and suspenders and, on the skin of some women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin), the shapes of flowers they had on their kimonos" (Hersey 29).
Nagasaki
"Approximately 40 percent of Nagasaki was destroyed. Luckily for many civilians living in Nagasaki, though this atomic bomb was considered much stronger than the one exploded over Hiroshima, the terrain of Nagasaki prevented the bomb from doing as much damage. Yet the decimation was still great. With a population of 270,000, approximately 70,000 people died by the end of the year" (Rosenburg). According to The Manhattan Engineer District 95% of civilians in Nagasaki died immediately due to burns and the other 5% were due to falling debris, flying glass, or radiation. The explosion of the atomic bomb generated heat estimated at 7,000 degrees incinerating anything that was near the hypocenter.
Radiation
"The effects from radiation were felt both immediately and afterward-even long afterward. When the human body receives radiation to the extent of 400 to 500 roentgens 50 percent of those radiated die, and if the quantity increases to 700 to 800 roentgens, it is fatal to nearly 100 percent of those exposed. Those people within 1,000 yards of ground zero received more than lethal dose. But, as with heat, the percentage of those who felt the effects of the rays decreased as the distance from the center increased. Wooden buildings afforded minimal protection. Even those inside concrete structures were affected by the massive amounts of gamma rays, neutrons and X-ray beams" (Chinnock 97).
Japanese radiation victim
According to Japanese observations, the early symptoms in patients suffering from radiation injury closely resembled the symptoms observed in patients receiving intensive roentgen therapy, as well as those observed in experimental animals receiving large doses of X-rays. The important symptoms reported by the Japanese and observed by American authorities were epilation (loss of hair), petechiae (bleeding into the skin), and other hemorrhagic manifestations, oropharyngeal lesions (inflammation of the mouth and throat), vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.