Meteor shockwave injures Russians
Yekaterinburg/Chelyabinsk, Russia — A meteorite shot across the sky in central Russia yesterday and sent fireballs crashing to Earth, smashing windows, setting off car alarms and injuring at least 400 people.
Residents heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave as they went to work in Chelyabinsk, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1500 kilometres east of Moscow.
The meteorite then raced across the horizon, leaving a long trail of white smoke in its wake which could be seen as far as 200km away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phones worked only intermittently.
‘‘I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day,’’ said Viktor Prokofiev, a 36-year-old resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains. ‘‘I felt like I was blinded by headlights,’’ he said.
No fatalities were reported but
‘‘I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day. I felt like I was blinded by headlights.’’ Viktor Prokofiev resident of Yekaterinburg
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 quickly informed.
The Emergencies Ministry said 400 people had been hurt, mainly by flying glass.
A local ministry official said the meteor shower may have been connected with an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool that was due to pass Earth at a distance of 27,520km, but this could not be confirmed.
Windows were shattered on Chelyabinsk’s central Lenin St and some of the frames of shop fronts buckled.
A loud noise, resembling an explosion, rang out. The shockwave could be felt in apartment buildings in the industrial city’s centre.
‘‘I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend,’’ said Andrei, a 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 nearby Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant but there was no environmental threat, a plant spokeswoman said.
Such incidents are rare in Russia.
A meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2000 square km in Siberia in 1908, smashing windows as far as 200km from the point of impact.
The Emergencies Ministry described yesterday’s events as a ‘‘meteor shower in the form of fire- balls’’ 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 a blast had been heard at an altitude of 32,800 feet, apparently signalling it occurred when the meteorite entered Earth’s atmosphere.
Nasa has said an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 metres 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 800km higher.