Hundreds injured by meteor shower in the Ural

[wautd]

Just when Asteroid 2012 DA14 is in the news for a close pass, an actual hit happens by another one

Central Russia hit by meteor shower in Ural region

Brightly burning rocks could be seen for hundreds of kilometres as they crashed into the Ural region.

Chelyabinsk residents reported shaking ground, windows being shattered and car alarms being set off during the shower.

The traces from falling objects could be seen in Yekaterinburg, about 200km (125 miles) south-east of Chelyabinsk, a witness told the Reuters news agency.

At least 100 people - many injured by broken glass - have been taken to hospital for treatment, medical officials in the city have said.

'Burning objects'

A witness in Chelyabinsk told Reuters that a huge blast was heard early on Friday morning and that shockwaves were felt in a 19-storey building in the town centre.

The Interfax news agency said that preliminary reports indicated that four people were injured by flying glass.

People in the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions reported seeing "burning objects" in the sky, which also fell on the cities of Yekaterinburg and Tyumen - a sparsely populated area of about 500km (310 miles).

About 600 sq m (6,000 sq ft) of a roof at a zinc factory collapsed, the Associated Press quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying.

The Chelyabinsk region is Russia's industrial heartland, an area that has many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.

The emergencies ministry said that thousands of rescue workers had been dispatched to the area to provide help to the injured.

Officials say that the shower began after a large meteorite disintegrated above the Urals mountain range and partially burned up in the lower atmosphere - resulting in fragments falling earthwards throughout the Chelyabinsk region.

[The Romulan Republic]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013 ... orite.html

A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring around 100 people, including many hurt by broken glass.

Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement.

Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said 102 people had called for medical assistance following the incident, mostly for treatment of injuries from glass broken by the explosions.

Kolsenikov also said about 600 square metres of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed.

Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time, leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

Holy shit.

The number of injured people is lower than in some other reports I've seen (I think the highest number I've seen is 400), and I'm not sure which report is the most credible.

Edit: Sorry. I just saw there's another thread on it.

[madd0ct0r]

well, that could have gone worse...

[K. A. Pital]

Merged. And Chelyabinsk rocks. Bring out XCOM.

[weemadando]

So one unexpected hit today and one forecasted near miss.

Hey there governments, hows about you SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY ON WAYS TO NOT HAVE US GET EXTINCT?

[Vympel]

The sound of the explosion in one video scared the crap out of me.

[Admiral Valdemar]

So one unexpected hit today and one forecasted near miss.

Hey there governments, hows about you SPEND SOME FUCKING MONEY ON WAYS TO NOT HAVE US GET EXTINCT?

President: We didn't see this thing coming?
Dan: Well, our object collison budget's a million dollars. That allows us to track about 3% of the sky, and beg'n your pardon sir, but it's a big-ass sky.

[weemadando]

The sound of the explosion in one video scared the crap out of me.

The no.1 comment on YouTube on the first vid I saw was "RIP headphone users".

I've had lightning strike within a few metres of me and that was mind-destroyingly loud. This seems like it was probably louder.

[K. A. Pital]

According to latest data the number of injured is in the hundreds, not dozens as initially thought (but even the initial figure was 150, now it's closer to 500). Title updated.

[Sea Skimmer]

So, this had to be in par with a low yield nuke unless it broke up at incredibly low level.

[PeZook]

So, this had to be in par with a low yield nuke unless it broke up at incredibly low level.

Depending on speed, it could have been between 0.050 and 5 KT.

[Borgholio]

I read about this on Yahoo news. They had quoted a Russian authority as saying "This has never happened before..."

First thought out of my head, "Hello? Tunguska?"

[PeZook]

Tunguska hit a region that couldn't be more remote if it tried and injured exactly zero people.

The Russian meant it hitting so close to a populated area.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'd like to think this will cause governments to take asteroids more seriously, but I'm not optimistic.

[NecronLord]

Some Russian news sources (link) quote as many as 950 injuries, including minor ones, reported from the impact, though it's still unclear.

[wautd]

I'd like to think this will cause governments to take asteroids more seriously, but I'm not optimistic.

Sure, right after they dealt with global warming

[Broomstick]

This video shows some interior shots, with doors and windows being blown out. It's easy to see how flying glass and debris could injure a LOT of people. It wasn't just a big noise or a typical sonic boom, it was a real shockwave.

[K. A. Pital]

Multiple shockwaves actually, it broke into pieces at low alt.

[cosmicalstorm]

Here is a long video. It seems to be a single impact that fragmented. Not exactly the opening scene of Armageddon, but still a sobering sight. I'm glad there are so many cameras around these days, so one of these things wont be mistaken for a nuclear blast.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7ed_1360924143

[Sea Skimmer]

Depending on speed, it could have been between 0.050 and 5 KT.

I don't think it could be under the 500 ton total energy level, it appears to have broken windows at several kilometer slant range perpendicular to its path, and a progressive breakup and multiple explosions would generate less reflected pressure then one solid blast. Once someone plots the damage we'll have a very good idea of just what it was like of course. It could well be several kilotons, though this seems unlikely unless more then the current single building with major structural collapse are found. Hopefully not, as that will make it very likely that people died.

[Irbis]

I'm glad there are so many cameras around these days, so one of these things wont be mistaken for a nuclear blast.

If I saw this (40 seconds in, plus blast (?) at 3:10):



Yes, nuclear blast would be one of the first things that came to mind.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Any photos yet of actual Impact zones? One would imagine there should be actual chunks left over for study.

[TimothyC]

Any photos yet of actual Impact zones? One would imagine there should be actual chunks left over for study.

If it went boom (broke up) loud enough (with enough energy) and high enough, there might not be fragments of appreciable size.

Also, Crazy Russians are crazy:

US tested new weapon, no meteor in Chelyabinsk – Russian LibDem leader

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the Russian Liberal-Democratic Party, said that no meteor fell in the Urals on Friday – the US “tested a new weapon” over the region, he claimed.

“You’re like some primitive tribe. What meteorite?” he said, adding that space is a “universe that has its own laws.” Zhirinovsky is a politician well-known for making similar eccentric statements. “When something falls – it’s man-made. People are warmongers and provocateurs,” he explained.

Earlier in the week, US Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly tried and failed to reach Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by telephone for two consecutive days. The State Department said that Kerry wanted to discuss the recent North Korean nuclear test, as well as the conflict in Syria.

However, Zhirinovsky claimed that the top US diplomat “wanted to warn Lavrov about the provocation and that it may affect Russia,” RIA Novosti reported.

On Thursday, Moscow confirmed that on February 12 it had received Washington’s request to organize an urgent phone conversation between Kerry and Lavrov. The Foreign Ministry said, however, that State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland was “inaccurate with her statements” regarding their inability to get in touch with Lavrov for two days.

“Unfortunately, the conversation could not be held because of the intensive schedule of the Russian foreign minister and his working tour to African countries,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashenko said.

“We informed the US about this at once. But no new requests were made either February 13 or another day," the diplomat added.

[Tanasinn]

If it was a U.S. weapon, there'd be considerably more dead Russians.

Give us credit where credit is due.

[TimothyC]

And I was wrong about there being a possibility of no debris

Meteorite debris found in 3 areas of Chelyabinsk region
MOSCOW, February 15 (Itar-Tass) – Meteorite debris have been found in three areas of Russia’s Chelyabinsk region, the press centre of the Russian Interior Ministry reports.

“At the present moment the emergency response centre has received information that three sites where meteorite debris fell have been discovered,” the sources said, specifying that two fragments had been found in the Chebarkul district of the Chelyabinsk region and one more – in the Zlatoust district.

Up to 10,000 police take part in efforts to remove the aftermath of the meteorite fall and help the local population.