That asteroid, known as the
Tunguska event, caused an explosion that leveled nearly 500,000 square acres of forest land in Siberia.
It was the single largest recorded meteor strike in more than a century, after the
Tunguska Event of 1908, which wiped out hundreds of square miles of forest in Eastern Russia.
June 30 is the anniversary of the Tunguska impact, also known as the
Tunguska event.
The so-called
Tunguska event in 1908 involved an object more than twice as large, at around 50 m.
The
Tunguska event was 1908; if that rock had hit a major city instead of Siberia, loss of life would have been awful.
In 1908, the
Tunguska Event took place in Russia as an asteroid exploded above Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or blown-down trees.
Impacts as powerful as the famous
Tunguska event of 1908, which was comparable to a 10-million-ton blast, should take place every few thousand years.
It was the largest object to hit the Earth since the
Tunguska event of 1908, when an exploding comet or asteroid destroyed 2,000 square kilometers of Siberian forest.
Interestingly, the micrometeorite theory as a main source of the dust is growing, and research published in 2009 suggests NLCs that were observed following the
Tunguska Event in 1908 are evidence that the impact was caused by a comet.
The resulting shock wave caused widespread damage and injuries, making it the largest known natural object to have entered the atmosphere since the 1908
Tunguska event, which destroyed a remote forest area of Siberia.