This eye-opening app shows users what it would be like if their town was hit by the Hiroshima bomb

The damage at Hiroshima, Japan, after the atomic bomb was dropped.
(Image credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing about 66,000 people and injuring 69,000. Tens of thousands more suffered from radiation disease in the years after.

To mark the 70th anniversary, Public Radio International has created a sobering app that shows users the extent of damage that would take place if the same bomb was dropped today in their town or anywhere else in the world. The team behind the app used several reports, including "The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" prepared by the Manhattan Engineer District and "The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki" by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, to ensure its accuracy. Visit PRI's website to use the eye-opening app.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.