Nagasaki, Japan, pre-1945 and post August 9, 1945
In Nagasaki, the change to the urban landscape happened in an instant. The top picture shows a densely built urban community. A river flows through the landscape, the city streets showing the different areas of development. Three days after dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, the United States prepared for its second target, the city of Kokura. Fortunately for Kokura (but unfortunately for another city), Kokura had too much cloud cover to reliably strike; United States forced wanted visual confirmation of the target.
Nagasaki became the alternative target. The bomb killed around 80,000 people, with more dying later from the effects of radiation. The devastation extended one mile around, with fires spreading beyond that. Unlike the dome and other modern buildings in Hiroshima, most buildings in Nagasaki were traditional wood frame structures, even the smaller industrial and commercial buildings. None of these survived the blast.
