[tgsovlerkhgsel]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EMP_mechanism.png shows a field strength of 25 kV/m for most of the US.

My understanding could be wrong, but wouldn't this mean exposing a 1 cm wide component (and/or components that have one cm long traces attached) to at least 250 V?

Wouldn't this be expected to destroy not every single component, but enough components to make enough hardware inoperable to collapse all industrial and power generation capabilities? (If you destroy 10% of ICs on only 10% of control boards in a power plant or factory, I'd assume that plant goes down hard and isn't coming up any time soon.)

[T-A]

> 25 kV/m for most of the US

That's the first (E1) pulse. And yes, the general idea is that it fries your electronics. Then the E3 pulse arrives and wrecks the electric network.