# NK nuke on west coast..affect on East Coast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908 "2003-02-13T20:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Semantic\_Enigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Semantic\_Enigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semantic_Enigma)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/1 "2003-02-13T20:35:55Z")
IF indeed NK were able to get a nuke on the west coast what would the affect be to folks on the east coast? I understand there are logistics involved, where it hit…etc… I just want a round about answer. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/2 "2003-02-13T21:27:07Z")
Probably not much of an effect. Lots of Nukes have been detonated on American soil. Remember, most of our nuclear testing was done above ground until the early 60’s. I suppose there may be a slight increase in cancer rates over a 10-20 year period, but no worse than what east caosters were exposed to when we were testing in the Nevada desert. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/3 "2003-02-13T21:53:41Z")
It may change some easterner’s vacation plans. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/4 "2003-02-13T22:06:10Z")
Your property value might go up as people tried to move away from the west coast as far as they can manage. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/5 "2003-02-13T22:12:29Z")
\>\> what would the affect be to folks on the east coast? I think you mean “what would the _effect_ be?”. Different words mean different things. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/6 "2003-02-13T22:16:55Z")
I assume you’re not asking “what would the effect be on the rest of the U.S. if Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle disappeared instantly?” Short-term, a nuclear blast would kick a hellacious amount of dust into the atmosphere. Those areas in the wind patterns might notice anything from a red sunset and ring around the moon to a temporary change in rainfall patterns until the dust cloud were sufficiently diffused. Long-term, there would probably be an uptick in cancer rates. I am pretty sure I remember during the old above-ground test days, that one way health authorities tracked the radioactivity was by monitoring dairy herds’ milk for Strontium-90. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/7 "2003-02-14T02:03:15Z")
Your property values might go DOWN as people start abanodning major population areas. Plus, the stock market would plunge. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/8 "2003-02-14T04:23:06Z")
Well, yeah. War scares the hell out of everyone. On the other hand, any missile they could deliver by way of ballistic missile couldn’t be all that big. They couldn’t possibly destroy ALL of any major city, short of sneaking in something fairly large… I’m pretty sure that if the North Koreans had anything like Saturn V missile boosters, we’d be marching on Pyongyang even now. Then again, this is a Bush administration. Anything could happen… ---
**Author:** ![Semantic\_Enigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Semantic\_Enigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semantic_Enigma)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/9 "2003-02-14T05:07:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*\>\> what would the affect be to folks on the east coast? > > I think you mean “what would the _effect_ be?”. Different words mean different things. \*\* Thank you for contributing, Sailor. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/10 "2003-02-14T06:44:13Z")
I would be more concerned about the range of the EMP effect. If one goes off high enough, how far reaching are the effects. Honestly, if I were trying to disrupt the US, that’s what I would do… try to blanket as much of the US with the EMP. ---
**Author:** ![TBone2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@TBone2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBone2)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/11 "2003-02-14T07:19:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wang-Ka \* > \*\*Well, yeah. War scares the hell out of everyone. On the other hand, any missile they could deliver by way of ballistic missile couldn’t be all that big. They couldn’t possibly destroy ALL of any major city, short of sneaking in something fairly large… I’m pretty sure that if the North Koreans had anything like Saturn V missile boosters, we’d be marching on Pyongyang even now. > > Then again, this is a Bush administration. Anything could happen… \*\* Uh, yeah, right. Nobody needs a vehicle the size of a Saturn V to deliver a nuclear warhead. The US currently fields a number of missile submarines that carry internally _dozens_ of missiles that are tipped with MIRVs – Multiple Independently-targeted Recovery Vehicles – any one of which would make a neat job of, say, Chicago. Any one of these devices is many times more powerful than the rudimentary device the US detonated over Hiroshima in 1945, which flattened the entire city and killed over 80,000 souls, not counting long-term cancer deaths. When you hear people talking about “suitcase nukes” or “tactical nukes,” you should understand that they’re talking about something with an effective yield at least the equal of the bombs delivered over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is no such thing as a “mini-nuke.” ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/12 "2003-02-14T08:49:00Z")
W doesn’t wield the Nukular football on a launch from North Korea. Before that one (or even several) ballistic missle flies over Mount Fuji - SAC will know where it will hit and knock it down. If China’s in on it - they’ll be launching too and it’s Global Thermonuclear War and ironically, the East Coast might get hit first by sneaky Chinese Nukes over the North Pole before CA does. If China’s not in on it - they’ll have to invade and annex North Korea (done and done). Then peace will reign. Unless India or Pakistan…and Russia… ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/13 "2003-02-14T09:15:37Z")
Health-wise, probably nothing will happen on the east coast. But, people in general are scared, and things like the stock markets will plunge, prices of fuel will soar as people try to ensure that they have enough. Food items and all manner of groceries will go up too as people will start purchasing things. ---
**Author:** ![malden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@malden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malden)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/14 "2003-02-14T14:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Corbomite \* > \*\*Before that one (or even several) ballistic missle flies over Mount Fuji - SAC will know where it will hit and knock it down. > > \*\* How could the Strategic Air Command possibly do this? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/15 "2003-02-14T15:03:55Z")
Over Mount Fuji? I think you need to read up on how ICBMs work. IF North Korea had a missile capable of reach us, we would only be able to shoot it down when it launched or, presuming we had some active SDI defense like Star Wars, when it reached apex in the upper atmosphere. The effect of a major west coast city being nuked (or sliding off the continent in a massive earth quake, as people are so fond to imagine) is much more emotional/personal and economic than anything else. Anyway, being a resident of San Francisco, can we go back to talking about blowing up New York? Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/16 "2003-02-14T15:11:15Z")
Nah, there’s no way NK or Iraq could get an ICBM to New York. 🙂 My question would be, roughly how much stuff do we import from NK? I’m kinda guessing sales of Made in NK stuff would drop off just a tad if, say, Seattle became a smoking, glassy crater one fine morning… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/17 "2003-02-14T15:17:46Z")
Who has that link that estimates fallout “footprints”? ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/18 "2003-02-14T15:18:02Z")
Um, from NK, almost nothing, I’d imagine. From South Korea, a lot. There are a lot of major companies located in SK, and they are, in every right, a modern nation as much as Japan, Taiwan, or China. From the CIA World Factbook on NK: > [@](#): > > Diplomatic representation from the US: > none (Swedish Embassy in P’yongyang represents the US as consular protecting power) > > GDP: > purchasing power parity - $21.8 billion (2001 est.) > GDP - real growth rate: > -3% (2001 est.) > GDP - per capita: > purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2001 est.) > > Industries: > military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism > > Exports: > $708 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) > Exports - commodities: > minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments); agricultural and fishery products > > Exports - partners: > Japan 40%, South Korea 24%, Hong Kong 7%, China 6%, France 4%, Germany 4% (2000) > > Imports: > $1.686 billion (c.i.f., 2000 est.) > Imports - commodities: > petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment; consumer goods, grain > Imports - partners: > China 38%, Japan 17%, South Korea 8%, Hong Kong 6%, Germany 4.5% (2000) I think it would be quite easy to hit New York. It’s smaller. More casualties. Californian cities have lower population density. _nod_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/19 "2003-02-14T15:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Semantic\_Enigma \* > \*\*IF indeed NK were able to get a nuke on the west coast what would the affect be to folks on the east coast? I understand there are logistics involved, where it hit…etc… I just want a round about answer. \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*I think you mean “what would the _effect_ be?”. Different words mean different things. \*\* While we’re at it, _logistics_, meaning “the procurement, distribution, maintenance, and replacement of materiel and personnel” doesn’t seem to fit with the OP’s meaning. I think you mean that you “understand that assumptions must be made, such as where it hit, etc.” Also, _roundabout_ (which is one word, BTW), meaning “indirect; oblique; circuitous” would be better replaced with a word such as “approximate.” ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908/20 "2003-02-14T16:22:12Z")
Don’t forget the US did plenty of open nuclear testing (Ever see those films?) over here in the west before with no effect on NY at all. What would happen if the US was able to detonate the missle from NK above the pacific ocean? I suppose that might make some pretty waves for us to surf? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nk-nuke-on-west-coast-affect-on-east-coast/154908.md?page=2)