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Fred-
  Not just knock it, but it destroys the electonics 
and melts the circuit traces if the overload is sufficient. In the days after 
WW2 when the US was still playing with aerial bomb tests, they did one that 
apparently generated enough EMP to set off every burglar alarm (the long 
trace wiring acts as a nice antenna) in Honolulu. I don't remember the 
details, only the reference to a 'practical test' of EMP accidentally 
happening.
 There are discussions you can find on the web about setting off EMP bombs 
(designed to create an EMP burst only, or mainly) and you'll find plenty of 
other references about it. But an EMP blast close enough to fry your GPS 
receiver is of no consequence...it will be a realtively local event with 
plenty of other, ah, consequences. For EMP to be a major issue it would have 
to be EMP bursts near the satellites themselves. Since they are specially 
hardened, relatively inaccessible (so far) and there are spares in orbit and 
on the ground...

 Not a real problem. (Like I said, if my GPS goes down because the system has 
been hit, I think I'll have other larger worries. Like food, water, and safe 
harbor.)

   

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