The Chelyabinsk Meteor

Imagine you were standing outside your house in Chelyabinsk, in the Ural Region in Russia, and saw a meteor falling from the sky. A bright object that appeared out of nowhere. The meteor falls and seconds later a sound so loud is heard that the windows shatter around it.

This is what happened in Chelyabinsk on the morning of February 15, 2013 at 9:20am. The meteor was a superbolide that entered Earth’s atmosphere and started burning up. When it got to its maximum amount of heat and pressure, it exploded, causing an explosion 20 x more bigger than hiroshima. This meteor was the 2nd largest recorded airburst ever. It was reported that the light from the meteor was brighter than the sun, visible up to 100 km away.

 The aftermath of the events, the damage done from the Chelyabinsk shockwaves cost $33 million to clean up. Aside from damage to the city. Russian authorities reported over 1400 people seeked medical attention the first few days. Most cases reported were due to the intense light caused from the meteors , like eye pain, flash blindness, ultraviolet burns and etc