Meteor attack in Russia injures 1,200, causes billion rubles of damage
The Russian Academy of Sciences, which investigates the unexpected "meteor attack" in the Urals, has shared preliminary results with the general public.
"According to our
estimates, the body was a few meters large, it weighed about ten tons, and its
power was a few kilotons. The celestial body entered the atmosphere at the
speed of 15-20 kilometers per second, collapsed at an altitude of 30-50
kilometers, and the movement of fragments at high speed caused powerful glow
and a strong shock wave. The bulk of the material of the falling body
evaporated, the remaining pieces slowed down and could fall to the ground as
meteorites," ITAR-TASS quoted the press service of the
RAS.
The flight of the
meteorite in the sky over the Chelyabinsk region was accompanied with three
explosions of varying power, the chairman of the regional branch of the Russian
Geographical Society, Sergey Zakharov said. "From what I saw, the balls of
fire were flying from the south-east to north-west. There were three explosions
that were preceded with a bright flash of light, with a temperature of
approximately 2,500 degrees Centigrade. The first explosion was the
strongest," the scientist said.
According to most recent
information from the Interior Ministry, as many as 1,200 people suffered from
the meteor attack. The local authorities have evaluated the damage at one
billion rubles.
A report from the
Russian Geographical Society said it was a bolide explosion, rather than a
meteor shower. "A bolide is a large celestial body, actually a large
meteor, that exploded when entering the lower, denser layers of the atmosphere,
and showered the ground with debris, - said Zakharov. - A meteor shower is
practically safe - it is a flow of crushed rocks falling from space. Repeat: we
had a fireball, or a bolide explosion."
