Ground zero

Some of the construction details (reinforcing rod splices, for example) [in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan] were often poor, and much of the concrete was definitely weak; thus some reinforced concrete buildings collapsed and suffered structural damage when within 2,000 feet of ground zero, and some internal wall paneling was demolished even up to 3,800 feet.

It's Christmas at ground zero / The button has been pressed / The radio / Just let us know / That this is not a test

"This is ground zero," she said. "If regulators don't adopt a zero tolerance for violations of standards then what we will have are places that are going to have unacceptable environmental damage."

Florida has been called a “ground zero” for climate change in America, as the state is expected to face the highest temperature rise in the southeast; […]

For Larson and other activists, Kamilo Beach has become ground zero of the crisis.

The two West Virginia local authorities accuse the distributors of turning Cabell county, with a population of just 90,000, into the “ground zero of the opioid epidemic sweeping the nation”, by flooding the area with nearly 100m opioid pills over a decade.

James Meredith's forced admission was a milestone in upending the old order in America's most segregated state, a kind of race relations ground zero.

Less than two years into the job, she has transformed Washington into ground zero of America’s education reform movement.

As we approached Ground Zero, I felt like I was entering a nightmare. There was little light. Smoke hung in the air and mixed with suspended particles of debris, creating an eerie gray curtain. We sloshed through puddles left behind by the morning rain and the water used to fight the fires.