In August 1945, after fighting World War II for almost four years, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima in Japan. About 70,000 people died in the first nine seconds after the bombing of Hiroshima, which was comparable to the death toll which resulted from the devastating Operation Meetinghouse air raid over Tokyo. Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the industrial city of Nagasaki, instantly killing 35,000 people. The nuclear weapons released catastrophic loads of energy. Once the bombs were blasted, the temperatures reached about 7200 °F. With temperatures that high, all the flora and fauna were destroyed along with the infrastructure and human lives in the impact zones. When the atomic bombs were dropped, they released enormous quantities of energy and radioactive particles. The radioactive particles which were released contaminated the land and water for miles around. The initial blasts increased the surface temperatures, along with the crushing winds which were caused by the initial blasts, the trees and buildings which were in their paths were all destroyed.