The shockwave from a nuclear detonation travels at approximately 1,100 feet per second — roughly the speed of sound.
At 4 miles from the detonation point, you have roughly 18–20 seconds between the flash and shockwave impact. At 2 miles, that drops to 9 seconds. At 6 miles, you have nearly 30 seconds.
The thermal pulse (the flash) travels at the speed of light. It arrives essentially instantaneously. That flash is your only warning. There is no siren, no announcement — just light.
The window exists because physics. Use it.
Any cloth + any liquid = a fallout particle filter.
Fallout is radioactive dust — physical particles. The immediate danger is inhaling or ingesting these particles, causing internal contamination. A wet cloth over your nose and mouth physically blocks most particles from reaching your lungs.
What works: T-shirt, sock, bandana, paper towel — moistened with water, juice, soda, anything available. Slightly damp works better than soaking wet (soaking can reduce airflow and filtration).
This does not stop gamma radiation penetrating your body from outside. But it prevents internal contamination — your biggest controllable post-blast survival variable.
| Distance | Zone | Survival | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| {row.dist} | {row.zone} | {row.survival} | {row.note} |
I'm 18 years old and I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico — 4 miles from Kirtland Air Force Base. Most people don't know that Kirtland holds nearly half of America's entire nuclear arsenal. Around 2,500 warheads are stored underground just miles from a major US city.
I started wondering what would actually happen if a strike occurred. I researched blast radii, thermal pulses, shockwave timing, fallout survival. I learned that at my distance I would have roughly 18 seconds between seeing the flash and the shockwave hitting my building. I learned exactly where to go, what to do, and why a wet cloth matters.
Then I realized — there's no app that gives regular people early warning AND tells them what to actually do. Government alerts fire after decisions have already been made. By then it may be too late to act.
I build web tools and digital products online. So I built StrikeAlert — because the gap between "scared" and "prepared" is just information.
StrikeAlert monitors live news feeds, government sources, and USGS seismic data continuously. The moment indicators rise, you know before the official alert fires.