Ground View of The City
Title: Hiroshima in Ruins
Date: August 1945
Format: Print, Photo
Institution: Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Link: https://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/
view.php?id=21790
On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima’s population lived one of the most terrible chapters of the history. The first atomic bomb ever created, Little Boy, was finally dropped above the city destroying everything on its way. With the epicenter at the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, the blast had a radius of approximately 18.5 Kilometer (11.5 miles). The shorter the distance from the center, the more the city was destroyed. Some houses, and even the people inside, were pulverized, making the counting process even harder. Before the explosion, the city had a total population of 380,000 people, with a remaining of 255,000 after Little Boy completed its mission.
Even though this tragedy created a collateral damage of multiple millions of dollars, the foundation of the city remained intact. Hiroshima was created to resist mayor natural disaster due to the earthquake vulnerability. The bomb left some buildings (the foundation only) still standing, such as the Industrial Promotion Hall, which is Hiroshima Peace Memorial today.
