Meteorite
hits Russian Urals: Fireball explosion wreaks havoc, up to 500
injured
15
February, 2013
Russia’s
Urals region has been rocked by a meteorite explosion in the
stratosphere. The impact wave damaged several buildings, and blew out
thousands of windows amid frigid winter weather. Hundreds are seeking
medical attention for minor injuries.
According
to unconfirmed reports, the meteorite was intercepted by an air
defense unit at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk. A missile
salvo blew the meteorite to pieces at an altitude of 20 kilometers,
local newspaper Znak reports quoting a source in the military.
A
meteorite is a solid piece of debris from space objects such as
asteroids or comets, ranging in size from tiny to gigantic.
When
a meteorite falls on Earth, passing through the atmosphere causes it
to heat up and emit a trail of light, forming a fireball known as a
meteor, or shooting or falling star.
A
bright flash was seen in the Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk
regions, Russia’s Republic of Bashkiria and in northern Kazakhstan.
Up
to 500 people sought medical attention as a result of the incident,
according to the Russian Interior Ministry. No serious injuries have
been reported, with most of the injuries caused by broken glass and
minor concussions.
The
Russian army has joined the rescue operation. Army units are
searching for meteorite debris in several places, including an area
near a military base next to Chebarkul Lake, west of Chelyabinsk.
Another search area is 80 kilometers further to the northwest, near
the town of Kusa.
Military
units are also searching for possible debris in the neighboring
Tyumen region.
Radiation,
chemical and biological protection units have been put on high alert.
Since the explosion occurred several kilometers above the Earth, a
large ground area must be thoroughly checked for radiation and other
threats.
At
least one piece of the fallen object caused damage on the ground in
Chelyabinsk. According to preliminary reports, it crashed into a wall
near a zinc factory, disrupting the city's Internet and mobile
service.
The
Emergency Ministry reported that 20,000 rescue workers are operating
in the region. Three aircraft were deployed to survey the area and
locate other possible impact locations.
Witnesses
said the explosion was so loud that it seemed like an earthquake and
thunder had struck at the same time, and that there were huge trails
of smoke across the sky. Others reported seeing burning objects fall
to earth.
Police
in the Chelyabinsk region are reportedly on high alert, and have
begun ‘Operation Fortress’ in order to protect vital
infrastructure.
Office
buildings in downtown Chelyabinsk are being evacuated. Injuries were
reported at one of the city’s secondary schools, supposedly from
smashed windows.
An
emergency message published on the website of the Chelyabinsk
regional authority urged residents to pick up their children from
school and remain at home if possible.
Those
in Chelyabinsk who had their windows smashed are scrambling to cover
the openings with anything available – the temperature in the city
is currently -6°C.
Chelyabinsk
regional governor Mikhail Yurevich is urgently returning to the
region. Yurevich said that preserving the city’s central heating
system is authorities’ primary goal.
“Do
not panic, this is an ordinary situation we can manage in a couple of
days,”
the governor said in and address to city residents.
Background
radiation levels in Chelyabinsk remain unchanged, the Emergency
Ministry reported.
The
regional Emergency Ministry said the phenomenon was a meteorite
shower, but locals have speculated that it was a military fighter jet
crash or a missile explosion.
“According
to preliminary data, the flashes seen over the Urals were caused by
[a] meteorite shower,"
the Emergency Ministry told Itar-Tass news agency.
The
ministry also said that no local power stations or civil aircraft
were damaged by the meteorite shower, and that “all
flights proceed according to schedule.”
Deputy
Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who also oversees the Russian defense
industry, wrote on Twitter that he would speak with Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev about the incident in the Urals.
“On
Monday I will bring to Medvedev a straight picture of what has
happened in the Urals and prospective proposals of how the country
can find out about the dangers approaching Earth and deal with them,”
Rogozin wrote.
Residents
of the town of Emanzhilinsk, some 50 kilometers from Chelyabinsk,
said they saw a flying object that suddenly burst into flames, broke
apart and fell to earth, and that a black cloud had been seen hanging
above the town. Witnesses in Chelyabinsk said the city’s air smells
like gunpowder.
Residents
across the Urals region were informed about the incident through a
cellphone text message from the regional Emergency Ministry.
Many
locals reported that the explosion rattled their houses and smashed
windows.
“This
explosion, my ears popped, windows were smashed… phone doesn’t
work,”
Evgeniya
Gabun wrote on Twitter.
“My
window smashed, I am all shaking! Everybody says that a plane
crashed,”
Twitter user Katya Grechannikova reported.
“My
windows were not smashed, but I first thought that my house is being
dismantled, then I thought it was a UFO, and my eventual thought was
an earthquake,”
Bukreeva Olga wrote on Twitter.
The
Mayak nuclear complex near the town of Ozersk was not affected by the
incident, according to reports. Mayak, one of the world’s biggest
nuclear facilities that used to house plutonium production reactors
and a reprocessing plant, is located 72 kilometers northwest of
Chelyabinsk.
It
is believed that the incident may be connected to asteroid 2012 DA14,
which measures 45 to 95 meters in diameter and will be passing by
Earth tonight at around 19:25 GMT at the record close range of 27,000
kilometers.
Another
Tunguska event?
The
incident in Chelyabinsk bears a strong resemblance to the 1908
Tunguska event – an exceptionally powerful explosion in Siberia
believed to have been caused by a fragment of a comet or meteor.
According
to estimates, the energy of the Tunguska blast may have been as high
as 50 megatons of TNT, equal to a nuclear explosion. Some 80 million
trees were leveled over a 2,000-square-kilometer area. The Tunguska
blast remains one of the most mysterious events in history, prompting
a wide array of hypotheses on its cause, including a black hole
passing through Earth and the wreck of an alien spacecraft.
It
is believed that if the Tunguska event had happened 4 hours later,
due to the rotation of the Earth it would have completely destroyed
the city of Vyborg and significantly damaged St. Petersburg.
When
a similar, though less powerful, unexplained explosion happened in
Brazil in 1930, it was named the ‘Brazilian Tunguska.’ The
Tunguska event also prompted debate and research into preventing or
mitigating asteroid impacts.
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