North Enewetak Craters

Many of the nuclear tests were conducted in the northern part of Enewetak Atoll. Immediately below, Boken (or Bogon) was the site of the 1956 Seminole test that excavated the central part of the island.

The relatively small Seminole fission crater is visible at the left side of the next photo, which also shows much larger craters from the fusion tests Mike (right) and Koa. These two tests were conducted from small islands similar to the one to the west (right), and the islands and quite a lot of reef were vaporized in the tests. Additionally, the shock apparently cracked the outer reef, causing a chunk directly seaward (below in the photo) to break away. This is an eerie spot where on a very calm day at low tide you can walk to the edge of the reef and look straight down over the edge.

(Thanks to Patrick L. Colin for the use of the aerial photos on this page.)

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