Locations in Jericho (TV Series) - The Attack

The Attack

● Los Angeles ● San Francisco ● San Diego ● Seattle ● Phoenix ● Denver ● Lawrence ● Houston ● Dallas ● Atlanta ● Miami ● Charlotte ● Minneapolis ● Chicago ● Indianapolis ● Detroit ● Boston ● Hartford ● Philadelphia ● Pittsburgh ● Washington, D.C. ● Baltimore ● St. George ● Norfolk ● New York ● Columbus ● Jericho

● Attacked city ● Unsuccessful attack ● Jericho

According to episode "A.K.A.", the attacks destroyed twenty-three major American cities. The bombs used in the attacks were brought in by the U.S. government. After the Soviet Union fell, neglected military and the satellite republics started selling their nuclear stockpiles on the black market. So the Central Intelligence Agency started an operation; "Project Red Bell". The objective of the project was to obtain that material by any and all means necessary, but a few years before the events of the series a shipment disappeared on its way to the Department of Energy storage compound in Oak Ridge.

Those warheads were converted into twenty-five 20-kiloton devices, which were disseminated to extremist cells active within the United States. It was a cross-section of "domestic militia, anarchists, and religious fanatics" — terrorist groups that would never ordinarily collaborate, ideologically or politically. The only thing that connected them was the desire to take down the federal government of the United States. The entire plan was orchestrated by someone with deep resources, an ability to coordinate diverse groups, and by all indications, an American.

After someone (believed to be Thomas Valente) tipped off the terrorists about the government's knowledge of the plot, they moved up the timetable for the attacks.

As described in the episode "The Day Before", the attacks were to take place simultaneously, using the 20-kiloton nuclear devices hidden in 55-gallon oil drums, at 8:05 p.m. EDT, during the U.S. President's emergency address to Congress on Tuesday, September 19.

Darcy Hawkins states in the episode "Casus Belli" that 30 million people were killed outright in the attacks. A news report in the second season premiere episode, "Reconstruction", says that "over 15 million" were "left dead or dying" and "another 40 million homeless."