EARTH IMPACT
Dear HIW,
We’ve just learnt about the mass extinction of the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. I was wondering what it would feel like if the exact same meteor was to strike in the exact location today.
William Wu Thanks for your interesting question, William. What we know about the impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs is that it was roughly six miles in width. The result of the collision was a giant explosion, creating a crater about 111 miles wide. If the same event were to happen again, we could expect similar conditions to arise.
The huge mass of debris thrown into the air would alter the atmosphere for a long time, blocking sunlight. We can only imagine the feeling, but the shock wave that was created has been compared to a gunshot multiplied to the size of a planet. What would follow is a massive tsunami, as the force would displace a great amount of seawater. If the impact occurred in the exact same place again, in Mexico, the tsunamis and earthquakes would be felt as far away as Argentina. Today, such an impact is less likely to occur completely out of the blue. NASA can detect massive threats to the planet through sophisticated tracking systems. By collecting radar tracking data, we are able to monitor the orbital paths of large asteroids and predict their future movements. Asteroid-diverting technology is also being tested.