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Page added on February 15, 2013
Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt
More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings.
People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.
A fireball blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phone networks were interrupted.
“I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day,” said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.
“I felt like I was blinded by headlights,” he said.
No fatalities were reported but President Vladimir Putin, who was due to host Finance Ministry officials from the Group of 20 nations in Moscow, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were informed.
A local ministry official said such incidents were extremely rare and Friday’s events might have been linked to an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool due to pass Earth at a distance of 27,520 km (17,100 miles) but this was not confirmed.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said the meteorite was travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second and that such events were hard to predict. The Interior Ministry said the meteorite explosion had caused a sonic boom.
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said 514 people had sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass, and that 112 of those were kept in hospital. Search groups were set up to look for the remains of the meteorite.
“There have never been any cases of meteorites breaking up at such a low level over Russia before,” said Yuri Burenko, head of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Emergencies Ministry.
WINDOWS BREAK, FRAMES BUCKLE
Windows were shattered on Chelyabinsk’s central Lenin Street and some of the frames of shop fronts buckled.
A loud noise, resembling an explosion, rang out at around 9.20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. ET). The shockwave could be felt in apartment buildings in the industrial city’s center.
“I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend,” said Andrei, a local resident who did not give his second name. “Then there was a flash and I saw a trail of smoke across the sky and felt a shockwave that smashed windows.”
A wall was damaged at the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant but a spokeswoman said there was no environmental threat.
Although such events are rare, a meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 miles) in Siberia in 1908, smashing windows as far as 200 km (125 miles) from the point of impact.
The Emergencies Ministry described Friday’s events as a “meteor shower in the form of fireballs” and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic.
Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens. They said what sounded like a blast had been heard at an altitude of 10,000 meters (32,800 feet).
The U.S. space agency NASA has said an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 meters in diameter, would have an encounter with Earth closer than any asteroid since scientists began routinely monitoring them about 15 years ago.
Television, weather and communications satellites fly about 500 miles higher. The moon is 14 times farther away.
12 Comments on "Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt"
BillT on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 12:23 pm
Another reminder that we are not all powerful.
Beery on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 1:43 pm
Cue nutty conspiracy theories in 3…2…1…
dissident on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 2:12 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DoUNOScCbt4
This object is not traveling 30 km/s. The quote from the Russian space agency applies to generic meteorites when they enter the atmosphere. It is strange that this “meteor” is moving so slowly and that the light output from its burnup maximizes just over the city. Looks to me like space debris or some failed ICBM test.
DC on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 3:38 pm
Its the aliens I tell you. Its one of there scout craft that malfunctioned(even aliens it seems buy there ships from incompetent, over-priced contractors). The pilot clearly jettisoned and probably set up a camp in a cave and is even now collecting data on our ‘defences’. Well, at least the defences of Chelyabinsk. Once he builds a transmitter from stolen cell phones, discarded DVD players and an old test tube radio, he will be able to signal his mothership that the invasion can begin. Then they will proceed to steal our water, and our women, and vaporize all our national capitals. Hey that last one doesnt sound like such a bad idea actually….
Arthur on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 6:02 pm
I am sorry Bruce Willis was too late to deflect this one.
What is this with Russians mounting dashboard cams in mass numbers? Probably for use in court as a defense against traffic rowdies.lol Also note that cities like Chelyabinsk are rapidly improving in outlook. I visited Kiev early nineties as well as a few years ago… what a difference, malls, cinemas and gas stations everywhere and very few Ladas and other tragedies on wheels.
DC on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 6:38 pm
Yes, I thought that was strange too! I though those were all police cars at first, they almost ALL private citizens with there cam-cars. Though they really should the dates on them properly…
But I would hardly characterize Gas Stations, much less malls as an improvement on anything. Rather the opposite. I am surrounded by all the things you mention, and they are ugly, sprawly, pointless lifeless places even at the best of times. Yea Ladas are pretty bad, but I will say one thing for them, they last forever and are simple to maintain. All those glossy ‘western’ trash-bins they use now, will insure the folks there either need to work or steal like mad to keep them on the road at all.
You know, just like us….
Arthur on Fri, 15th Feb 2013 10:34 pm
Hmm, you should have seen the devastation of Russia or the Ukraine in 1995 and the extreme poverty these people had to endure. From that perspective IKEAs or Wallmarts are like Nirwana. We are just blase, we’ve seen it all.
Talking about cars “that last forever and are simple to maintain”… go have a look in Havana/Cuba (not sure if Canadians are allowed to go there, Americans were not when I was there in 2002)… most cars were (are?) huge American cars from the fifties, held together by cellotape. It was ‘scenic’, like in a movie.
GregT on Sat, 16th Feb 2013 3:26 am
Iranian nuclear missile test gone bad.
Beery on Sat, 16th Feb 2013 9:57 am
I rest my case.
Dissident, if you don’t know how far away the object is, there is no way to tell how fast it’s traveling.
Arthur on Sat, 16th Feb 2013 6:44 pm
“Dissident, if you don’t know how far away the object is, there is no way to tell how fast it’s traveling.”
It certainly was in the atmosphere (15-20 km thick), considering the trailing smoke. It was much less than 30 km/s
GregT on Sun, 17th Feb 2013 12:02 am
Apparently they found an Iranian scientist’s ID card at the impact site.
Gates Outcast on Sun, 17th Feb 2013 2:44 am
The ancient rulers, the Dinosaurs are returning.