SIBERIA METEORITE FLATTENS 40 SQ MILES

The Times ^ | 7 June 2003 | Robin Shepherd

[Mike Darancette]

IF IT had hit Central London, Britain would no longer have a capital city. The force of the meteorite that hit eastern Siberia last September destroyed 40 square miles of forest and caused earth tremors felt 60 miles away.

An expedition from Russia's Kosmopoisk institute has only recently reached the site in a remote area north of Lake Baikal because of bad weather and difficult terrain, the Interfax news agency said yesterday.

Fragments of the meteorite had apparently exploded into shrapnel 18 miles above the Earth with the force of at least 200 tonnes of TNT.

At the time, Russian media reported that villagers 60 miles away had witnessed a gigantic fireball screeching down from the sky, causing windows to rattle and house lights to swing as they were hit by blast waves on September 25. There were no reported casualties.

Copyright 2003, The Times

[Exit148]

"----this one may have been 50-100 feet-----"

Can that size be detected, and if so ---why wasn't it news?

[ErnBatavia]

40 square miles, I wonder what kind of wave that would have made in the Gulf Of Mexico?

This old sot?

[Sentis]

The size of the meteorite can be inferred from the size of the explosion

[RightOnline]

"Then, most areas of land are unpopulated still believe it or not. Take the land mass of the North Pole, Northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, the South Pole, etc..."

.....or even the US of A.

It never ceased to amaze me, during my days as a pilot, crisscrossing the country, how much wide open space there is in this country. The morons who complain about 'overpopulation' have apparently never bothered to fly a commercial airline and actually look out of the window.

We have a very, VERY large country, folks, and it is overwhelmingly un- or under-populated.

[RightWhale]

The 40 square miles of devastation is probably an overstatement. Damage over 40 square miles is possible, but devastation is not likely unless the forest caught fire.

[blam]

Evidence Of Tunguska-Type Impacts Over The Pacific Basin In 1178AD

[lawdude]

".2 kilotons is way small for a city buster."

The area mentioned is only about 6.2 miles square. Not very big! Not sure how that relates to Nagasaki area and size.

[Wilhelm Tell]

That is an interesting point. We know that a really big meterorite struck Siberia in 1908, and now this smaller one. How many meteorites big enough to destroy a city have struck the oceans in the past decades? Every once in a while a ship seems to vanish without a trace. Once in a great while a ship survives some huge, unexplained wave. Sooner or later a populated area will be struck -- this could start a war if it is mistaken for an attack (imagine what might happen if a meteorite struck India or Pakistan).

[blam]

"We have a very, VERY large country, folks, and it is overwhelmingly un- or under-populated."

I agree 100%

We could turn Texas into a 'bedroom like community' and all the world's 6 billion people could live there.

[Mike Darancette]

In year 1178 A.D., as related by Clube and Napier in their book The Cosmic Serpent, a strange event was observed to affect the Moon, which may be explained by a large impact on the hidden face, originating the Giordano Bruno crater.

In your "Dark Ages" post of yesterday it was suggested that there is a periodicity of 700-900 years to events that effect civilizations. Supposing that there was such an event at about 540 AD there seems to be no event following that time.

I submit that the Moon may have saved the Earth from an impact on or shortly after 1178 AD.

[Grig]

Interesting.

By some theroies, the earth gets a serious dose of meteors on a regular basis, and its about time for the next round.

Already there are 2 or 3 big ones that have been found and are due to pass very close to earth in 30 years or so. This one could be a warning shot of more to come.

[Mike Darancette]

Read my post #50 to Blam.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

.2 kilotons is way small for a city buster.

My thinking exactly. Hardly seems possibly that it would destroy 40 square miles of forest.

[blam]

"In your "Dark Ages" post of yesterday it was suggested that there is a periodicity of 700-900 years to events that effect civilizations. Supposing that there was such an event at about 540 AD there seems to be no event following that time."

Yup. Baillie mentions this in his book, Exodus To Arthur. I'll look through it later tonight and if I find anything I think you'd be interested, I'll post it here tomorrow.

We may have moved enough to be out of the 'comet tail?' that was producing the periodicity?

[Wings-n-Wind]

"Is Siberia accursed?"

Sort of like a trailer park with a tornado?

Maaa-a-a-n...
...Broke the code on both phenoms....

Wings<----- had always wondered about those concentric circle trailer parks...look like a target from the sky...

Do the the mountain ranges of Siberia form a crosshair sight reticle from space?!??!??....

Apols in advance for any offended by weak cornball humor...
Regards....

[TaMoDee]

"Pravada" reported in its October 28, 2002 english edition that Russian scientists visited the impact area a few days after it was reported. This is the neat part: The site was pin pointed by an American satellite. (The satellites that search for nuclear blasts.)

[org.whodat]

the BFR that got the dinos was 6 miles across

This is a theory, not fact. that is the dinos, were still around for another 10,000 years are so.

[El Gato]

Is Siberia accursed?

Yes, with Russians.

[blam]

"In your "Dark Ages" post of yesterday it was suggested that there is a periodicity of 700-900 years to events that effect civilizations."

In his book Exodus To Arthur, Baillie was looking for a 470-80 year cycle, not 700 year like I thought.

[Mike Darancette]

This is a theory, not fact. that is the dinos, were still around for another 10,000 years are so.

Actually there is evidence that the Dinos were gradually disappearing before the impact because of a reduction in the amount of O2 in the atmosphere.

Other catastrophic events of the time such as the massive outpouring of Basalt Lava forming the Deccan Traps may have had much to contribute to the extinction.

I would doubt that the 10,000 year number is any more accurate than the time or size of impact given that the events were 65mya. Whatever (whenever) these events were, critters that had been on Earth upwards of 100my disappeared in the blink of a geologic eye.