9/11: How many buildings were destroyed in total?
- Ian Scott
Alternate:
3
Current:
7
9/11: How many buildings were lost?
As if the 9/11 attack isn't controversial enough, it seems to now be the subject of a Mandela Effect.
Everyone knows the Twin Towers were destroyed on September 11, 2001, and many know that WTC 7 was lost too. Most people know 3 buildings collapsed on that day, and remember that's the way it was reported at the time. So they are surprised to hear that today the total figure is 7, because other buildings were demolished in the weeks following due to damage received on the day, such as the Deutsche Bank Building, We're not talking about the number which were destroyed on the day here - it's the total lost in the time following the event which couldn't be repaired.
The collapse of the Twin Towers destroyed the rest of the complex, and debris from the collapsing towers severely damaged or destroyed more than a dozen other adjacent and nearby structures. Other buildings destroyed include St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Marriott World Trade Center (Marriott Hotel 3 WTC), South Plaza (4 WTC), and U.S. Customs (6 WTC).
The Verizon Building was also extensively damaged but was successfully restored later.
Other buildings
The 9/11 attacks were the single deadliest attack mankind has ever seen, and did an estimated $30bn worth of damage in total. New York wasn't the only target on that fateful day - the Pentagon suffered an attack too, although there are now reported victims from that and the building didn't totally collapse.
Of course the biggest loss on 9/11 was the 2,977 killed and the 6,000+ injured. Along with these, and the buildings, countless works of art, historical records and official documents were also gone forever. A 26-page report, the Cataclysm and Challenge document, outlined the known cultural items lost. There were 21 libraries inside the WTC, including that of the Journal of Commerce. The CIA had a secret office on the 25th floor of WTC7, and the US secret service had 200 officers based in the same building. In WTC building 6, US trade documents dating back to the 1840's were stored. In the Pentagon, the plane hit a library with 500k books, but fortunately most were saved.
Impact
When most people think of the buildings lost, they just assume the two towers and WTC7, the ones lost on the day, were the only ones, presumably because these are the one which got all the attention at the time and, to a large extent, still do to this day.