Yesterday, I posted some photos of the A-Bomb Dome and the Hiroshima Peace Park. Today, I'll share some photos from the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum and other places. I didn't take many photos inside the museum, as the lighting was somewhat dim and the museum requests no flash photography. If you follow the link, you can see many of the exhibits on the museum website.
This 3-D map shows the devastation left by the fireball. More than 90% of the city of Hiroshima was obliterated by the blast and the subsequent fire storm. About 50,000 people were killed instantly, and another 50,000 - 70,000 died from injuries, burns and radiation poisoning.
The rectangular area (center left) surrounded by a moat was the site of Hiroshima Castle, built during the 1590s. As it was mostly wooden construction, very few of the original structures survived the blast. Hiroshima citizens rebuilt the castle tower in the 1950s, and other reconstruction projects are ongoing.
I've zoomed in on the hypocenter area. The cards indicate the A-bomb Dome (part of the former municipal exhibition hall) and the present site of the museum.
A steel girder from a building was sheared in several places by the concussion.
The heat melted this glass bottle, and fused clay roof tiles. Temperatures exceeded 1200 degrees C.
Despite the devastation, a few trees survived the bombing. Both of these are on the grounds of Hiroshima Castle.
This eucalyptus was 740 meters from the hypocenter.
This nearby willow also survived.
Former President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima last year. He left a short message and folded two paper cranes. One is on display in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki.
In case you were wondering, the background radiation in Hiroshima city fell back to normal decades ago, so I was in no danger of dangerous radiation exposure while I was there.