9.11: The Impact of Meteorites
Meteorites can cause damage upon impact, from minor to significant. Examples of three major impacts causing significant damage in the last 100 years are included below.
Tunguska
Place
- Tunguska, Krasnoyarsk | Krai, Russia
Date
- June 30, 1908
The Impact
- An air burst comet or asteroid impact damaging over some 2,150 square kilometers or 830 square miles of forested area. No meteorites were ever recovered.
Sikote-Alin
Place
- Sikhote-Alin, Primorye | Russia
Date
- February 12, 1947
The Impact
- A brighter-than-the-sun fireball announced the arrival of an air burst impactor, showering some 28 tons of meteoritic iron shrapnel on the Sikhote-Alin Mountains.
Chelyabinsk Oblast
Place
- Chelyabinsk Oblast | Russia
Date
- February 15, 2013
The Impact
- 1,491 people were injured and over 7,200 buildings damaged by the air burst from this impactor, estimated to weigh 10,000 tons; numerous stone meteorites were found.