# How long would it take to hear that NY got destroyed by a nuke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980 "2003-04-07T02:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ubermensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bcef8e/32.png) [@ubermensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ubermensch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/1 "2003-04-07T02:45:19Z")
Say that a nuke goes off over NY. It destroys pretty much all the antennas, networks, telephone lines in the area. The EMP knocks out even more equipment. How long would it take for news of this event to reach the rest of the world? And how would we get the info? ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/2 "2003-04-07T02:55:04Z")
I was halfway around the world on 9-11, but I knew about it within 10 minutes. However, your point is not lost . . . I would give it less than an hour. With NORAD still on nuclear watches with plenty of hardware to detect nuclear detonations, I would be surprised if the President wasn’t informed and press statements weren’t issued within an hour. That’s not including what’s left of New Jersey, New York state, or Connecticut’s infrastructure that calls could get out, nor what eyewitnesses could call about. Tripler But then I’ll throw this at you: was it an airburst or a groundburst? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/3 "2003-04-07T02:57:29Z")
You seem to be assuming that there must be communication out of the blast zone in order for people to be quickly informed. However, a nuclear blast would be instantly picked up on satellite. I’d wager that the government would know in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. How long it would take for the information to hit major media outlets is anyone’s guess, but I would think it would surely happen within the hour. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/4 "2003-04-07T03:12:17Z")
uh, ubermensch - do you have any plans we need to know about? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/5 "2003-04-07T03:18:39Z")
I’d say even with airburst to maximise radiation, which is all EMP is, **Tripler** is right. We’ve optimized our defenses for nuclear attacks, albeit massed Soviet assault of ICBMs from the Arctic, and we know too much about how nukes work to be completely stymied by one. NORAD would immediately know via satellite that NYC had been hit, SAC planes would scramble to defend all of the White House and the important bits of the Legislature, and the President would proclaim Operation Infanate Justice II from an undisclosed 747. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/6 "2003-04-07T03:24:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe Random \* > **You seem to be assuming that there must be communication out of the blast zone in order for people to be quickly informed. However, a nuclear blast would be instantly picked up on satellite.** Not to mention that the very lack of communication would be a tip-off that something’s up. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/7 "2003-04-07T03:27:50Z")
You might notice the blinding flash of light and subsequent enormous mushroom cloud. Definitely in the suburbs. Hard to say how much farther away you’d see it, since I don’t know the topography around Manhattan, and a 20 megaton bomb would be seen much farther away than the 1 megaton bomb that is a more likely size today. But 911 would be overwhelmed instantly in, say, a 50 mile radius around the city. I don’t think it would take even an hour for the news to get on the air. More likely 5 minutes before CNN breaks in. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/8 "2003-04-07T03:28:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\*SAC planes would scramble to defend all of the White House and the important bits of the Legislature, and the President would proclaim Operation Infanate Justice II from an undisclosed 747. \*\* I would only differ from this opinion in that SAC no longer exists, but all AFSPC assets would be on high alert (and we’d be on the old DEFCON 3 system), but essentially you’re right. POTUS would be on a NEACP before you could blink with fighter escort, and all available E-6B Looking Glass’ would be on patrol. **Derleth** is completely right. We know how to fight a nuclear war, even if it is only a single detonation on our soil. Tripler A child of the Cold War himself. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/9 "2003-04-07T05:52:34Z")
OK, I know that NORAD is “North American Radar Defense”, or something of the like, ICBM is “InterContinental Ballistic Missile”, and “POTUS” is presumably “President of the United States”, but could somebody please spoon-feed me the rest of this alphabet soup? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/10 "2003-04-07T06:04:52Z")
SAC = Strategic Air Command, now defunct. A Cold War era system of constantly-airborne aircraft (operating on shifts, naturally) to provide instant retaliatory strikes in the event of Doomsday. SAC encompassed AWACS craft, which are giant flying radar and communications systems, long-range bombers (traditionally the B-52, but the B-1 was supposed to be a SAC craft as well), and various other types of planes to support the main mission of making sure the Soviets die just as badly as us. I assume NEACP is the plan to get the Executive Branch functioning remotely from an aircraft (the Looking Glass mission) in the event of nuclear war. Basically, the President and Cabinet are shuffled off into long-range planes, which then fly around over secure areas with fighter escorts until someone can sound the all clear. I don’t know what it stands for. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/11 "2003-04-07T06:11:12Z")
[E-4B NEACP Command Center](http://www.worldaircorps.com/tmpages/b3020c3p.htm) – The main plane of the Looking Glass mission. Meant to serve as a mobile command center in the Event of the Unthinkable. > [@](#): > > Under the designation E-4, the USAF acquired a total of four Boeing 747s to serve as survivable airborne command posts, any one of which would be capable of controlling the USA’s entire force of ICBMs, its manned bombers, and its nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarines; entering service were three of the E-4A version, provided with earlier-generation command and control equipment removed from the EC-135s that they replaced, plus one E-4B with advanced command and control equipment; the three E-4As have since been upgraded to E-4B standard; all in-service E-4s are powered by General Electric CF6-50E turbofans, each with 52,500-lb thrust. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/12 "2003-04-07T06:22:19Z")
Oh, and if nobody else will get it: DEFCON = Defense Condition. DEFCONs were a way of measuring the severity of a particular situation, with DEFCON 1 being the lowest and DEFCON 5 being Doomsday (IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![ubermensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bcef8e/32.png) [@ubermensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ubermensch)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/13 "2003-04-07T06:23:52Z")
I was just curious… I’d have to guess that ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS would be out of the loop, since their news operations are quite near to Times Square (I’m assuming an air burst above 42nd and Broadway, maybe in the top of one of the buildings). I’d have to guess that CNN would be the ratings winner here, right? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/14 "2003-04-07T06:24:55Z")
[http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/defcon.htm](http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/defcon.htm) – Damned. Got my DEFCONs exactly wrong. DEFCON 5 is normal peacetime. DEFCON 1 is maximum force readiness. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/15 "2003-04-07T06:58:20Z")
The type of nuke a terrorist would have would have an area of total destruction of less than a mile. There would be plenty of New York radio and TV stations broadcasting the disaster. I also don’t think a crude nuclear bomb detonated on the ground would create enough EMP to destroy all the electronics in the city. If a nuke went off in New York, I’ll bet it would be on the natiional networks within five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/16 "2003-04-07T07:05:13Z")
Finally, because I just now noticed them as being previously undefined. AFSPC = [Air Force Space Command](http://www.spacecom.af.mil/hqafspc/Default2.asp) EMP = ElectroMagnetic Pulse. A brief, intense burst of ionizing radiation sufficient to knock out all electronics more recent than vacuum tubes by frying the circuits. One of the main immediate effects of a nuclear blast. ---
**Author:** ![CelraySoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@CelraySoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelraySoda)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/17 "2003-04-07T07:45:39Z")
What about that fictional bomb that just knocks out all electronics and leaves people and buildings unharmed? Is that thing really out there? I live in Teaneck NJ but work in Manhattan. When 9-11 happened, you could easily see the smoke from where I am. Teaneck is about 20? miles from the Lincoln Tunnel which leads pretty much into Mid-town. -M ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/18 "2003-04-07T07:59:31Z")
Due to the cosmic foreshadowing common to all significant events hundreds of psychics would predict the event days before, just like 9/11. Or not as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/19 "2003-04-07T09:48:22Z")
When all of New York City experienced a 25-hour power-outage on July 13-14, 1977, the broadcast networks were still able to bring live coverage of the situation within 15 minutes of its occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2003, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980/20 "2003-04-07T09:54:28Z")
**CelraySoda** , you’re thinking of the neutron bomb, or an enhanced radiation (ER) warhead. It _is_ optmized for maximum radiation, but it _doesn’t_ leave buildings standing. Basically, an ER warhead is a fission-fusion device (meaning the initial fission reaction caused by slamming the uranium or plutonium chunks together triggers a fusion reaction in heavy hydrogen and lithium in the weapon’s core) where the immense amounts of neutrons (subatomic particles lacking a magnetic charge) liberated are allowed to enter the environment. Neutrons are heavy enough to cause massive damage to long-chain molecules (like proteins and chromosomes), causing radiation sickness or cancer, depending on the dose. Notice that ER warheads are nuclear bombs. They produce a blast like anything else in that category, and _will_ reduce to rubble any buildings caught within that blast (depending on the usual considerations, of course). [http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html#nfaq1.5](http://nuketesting.enviroweb.org/hew/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html#nfaq1.5) – Look down to section 1.5.4 for the relevant info. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-to-hear-that-ny-got-destroyed-by-a-nuke/166980.md?page=2)