A sunset peace vigil in Goodale Park today will mark the 70th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. The event, sponsored by the Puffin Foundation West, will start at the gazebo on the northeast side of Goodale Park at 7:30 p.m. and will feature reflections and choir music.
Japan marked the anniversary today with Mayor Kazumi Matsui renewing calls for U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders to step up efforts toward making a nuclear-weapons-free world.
Tens of thousands of people stood for a minute of silence at 8:15 a.m. at a ceremony in Hiroshima’s peace park near the epicenter of the 1945 attack, marking the moment of the blast. Then dozens of doves were released as a symbol of peace.
U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and representatives from more than 100 countries, including Britain, France and Russia, attended that ceremony.
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Here’s a look, by the numbers, at that day 70 years ago:
350,000: Population of Hiroshima before the bombing, of which 40,000 were military personnel.
140,000: Estimated death toll, including those who died from radiation-related injuries and illness through Dec. 31, 1945.
300,000: Total death toll to date, including those who have died from radiation-related cancers.
1.2 million: Population of Hiroshima today.
31,500: Height in feet (9,600 meters) from which the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the “Little Boy” bomb.
2,000: Height in feet (600 meters) at which the bomb exploded 43 seconds after it was dropped.
3,000-4,000: The estimated temperature in Celsius (5,400-7,200 Fahrenheit) at ground zero seconds after the detonation.
8,900: Approximate weight of the “Little Boy” bomb in pounds (about 4 metric tons).
1,600: Radius in feet (500 meters) from ground zero in which the entire population died that day.
90: Percent of Hiroshima that was destroyed.
45: Minutes after the 8:15 a.m. blast that a “black rain” of highly radioactive particles started falling.
3-6: Weeks after the bombing during which most of the victims with severe radiation symptoms died.
10 million: Folded paper (“origami”) cranes that decorate the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima each year.
Sources: Hiroshima city government; Japan Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; Japan Foreign Ministry.
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