Starfish Prime was a July 9, 1962 high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency
Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements.
The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP damage to the microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands.[
30 street light circuits. A single burglar alarm that police responded to. Intermittent communication failures reported by the FAA for a short while.
Don’t overstate the effects.
Also, consider that the weapon detonated in 1962 was 140 times as powerful as the best the N. Koreans have managed thus far. Even if they had one as powerful, they would still have to detonate a number of them to get broad coverage of the United States. One wouldn’t cut it, and one at the power they have thus far been able to produce wouldn’t cause enough damage to avert an immediate and overwhelming response. It would be suicide.
Yes. Good info.