PHOTO: Only One Bomb Took 140,000 Lives

In August 1945 the atomic bomb was used for the first time. The Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed.

Japan is marking the 64th anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack in history. Japan is remembering the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima killed by the atomic bomb. 

In August 1945 the atomic bomb was used for the first time. The Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed.

Hiroshima was one of the few towns that were spared of attacks by conventional weapons. Of the 255,000 residents, most were civilians whose lives were taken by just one bomb weighing 4,090 kilograms.

The attack happened near the end of World war II, under command of Harry S. Truman, after an ultimatum to the Japanese Empire that contained conditions of surrender, on July 26. After the second bomb fell on Nagasaki, Japan surrendered within six days and the conflict between the United States and Japan in the Pacific was officially over.

The moment the bomb exploded 600 metres above Hiroshima, 70,000 people were killed and another 70,000 people died as a consequence of radiation and injuries sustained as the bomb exploded. The temperature on the ground near the explosion was 5,000 degrees Celsius and the powerful wave of wind and fiery storm destroyed everything within 13 square kilometres.

In order to prevent further bombing, Japan decided to capitulate unconditionally, thus ending World War II.

A year ago, photographs were released of the bombing of Hiroshima which the public never had the opportunity to see before. The photos were taken by an anonymous Japanese man. They were found by Robert L. Capp who donated them to the Hoover Archives in 1998.