9.11: The Impact of Meteorites
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
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.