At ground zero of a nuclear explosion, temperatures soar to an unimaginable 100 million degrees Celsius—hotter than the core of the Sun. Anyone in the immediate area would be instantly incinerated, reduced to carbon in a flash. But the devastation stretches far beyond the epicenter.
Within an 8-kilometer (5-mile) radius, people can suffer third-degree burns, where skin blisters and nerve endings are destroyed. Even 11 kilometers (7 miles) out, first-degree burns are possible—depending on factors like clothing and weather conditions.
How to Survive a Nuclear Blast
Light travels faster than heat, and in the case of a nuclear detonation, it’s blinding—literally. On a clear day, people as far as 21 kilometers (13 miles) away could experience flash blindness. At night, that zone expands dramatically to 85 kilometers (53 miles) due to dilated pupils. You don’t have to see the explosion directly to be affected.
Then comes the shockwave. Within a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) radius, wind speeds can exceed 255 km/h (158 mph)—strong enough to flatten buildings and throw people through the air. Closer to the blast, winds can surge to 750 km/h (466 mph), with pressure levels capable of crushing entire structures. Even if you escape the heat, collapsing buildings or flying debris could still be fatal.
And then there’s the radiation. A ground-level blast sends radioactive particles—known as fallout—across hundreds of miles, contaminating soil, air, and water. In fact, scientists have found traces of Cold War-era nuclear tests in the Mariana Trench, the ocean’s deepest point.
Survival chances improve if you’re 30 to 40 kilometers (18–25 miles) away, indoors, and upwind of the explosion. But even that’s no guarantee. A 2019 scientific simulation concluded that a full-scale nuclear war could trigger a global nuclear winter within days, potentially collapsing agriculture and ecosystems.
There are still more than 12,000 nuclear warheads around the world today. So this isn’t just theoretical—distance won’t guarantee safety, but it could buy you precious time.
