NAGASAKI, BEFORE AND AFTER

On August 9, 1945, when a plutonium bomb was detonated over the city of Nagasaki, between 39,000 and 80,000 people were killed.

Half of them were fortunate enough to die instantly, and the other half died slow, painful deaths. The photograph above shows the absolute devastation wreaked by the bomb. The bomb itself was more powerful than that used to destroy Hiroshima, but Nagasaki’s topography resulted in less net damage.

While the nuclear detonation above Nagasaki is a well-known chapter in history, it is less well known that the nuke was preceded by a full year of smaller-scale bombing of the city. A total 270 tons of high explosive, 53 tons of incendiary and 20 tons of fragmentation bombs were dropped. Shipyards and arms factories were targeted, but bombs also fell on the Nagasaki Medical School and Hospital.