At this hour, just after 11pm PT, this story is labeled as “BREAKING NEWS” at Russia’s state-owned RT website.
RT is reporting “Up to 100 people sought medical attention as a result of the incident, according to the Russian Interior Ministry. No serious injuries have been reported, with most of the injuries caused by broken glass and minor concussions.”
[Update: AP now pegs the number as “more than 400 people” injured, according to a Russian Interior Ministry spokesperson. || Later Update: Washington Post now reports “985 people sought medical help for injuries and 43 were hospitalized.”]But take a look at some of the remarkable video…
Here’s the beginning of RT’s coverage explaining what seems to be going on…
According to unconfirmed reports, the meteorite was intercepted by an air defense unit at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk. A missile salvo reportedly blew the meteorite to pieces at an altitude of 20 kilometers.
A bright flash was seen in the Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk regions, Russia’s Republic of Bashkiria and in northern Kazakhstan.
Lifenews tabloid said that at least one piece of the fallen object caused damage on the ground in Chelyabinsk. According to preliminary reports, it crashed into a wall near a zinc factory, disrupting the city’s Internet and mobile service.
The Emergency Ministry reported that 20,000 rescue workers are operating in the region. Three aircraft were deployed to survey the area and locate other possible impact locations.
Witnesses said the explosion was so loud that it seemed like an earthquake and thunder had struck at the same time, and that there were huge trails of smoke across the sky. Others reported seeing burning objects fall to earth.
Police in the Chelyabinsk region are reportedly on high alert, and have begun ‘Operation Fortress’ in order to protect vital infrastructure.
This certainly seems like a hoax, but apparently it is not, as U.S. news sites are now picking this up as well. See RT’s page for more details.
Here are a few of the photos they have posted, said to have been published by Twitter users, and one possible explanation for what seems to be going on…
RT goes on to report that “It is believed that the incident may be connected to asteroid 2012 DA14, which measures 45 to 95 meters in diameter and will be passing by Earth tonight at around 19:25 GMT at the record close range of 27,000 kilometers.”
They don’t specify who “believes” that, but, indeed, 2012 DA14 is set to fly by Earth on Friday in what NASA describes as “a record close approach for a known object of this size.”
“Small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on February 15,” NASA reports, “so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid’s path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.”
Could be an interesting day…
UPDATE 10:02am PT, 2/15/2013: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweets to say that the “Russian meteor appears to be a fireball”. They point us to this American Meteor Society FAQ on fireballs, which, among other information, describes a fireball as “another term for a very bright meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4, which is about the same magnitude of the planet Venus in the morning or evening sky.”
The FAQ goes on to say: “Several thousand meteors of fireball magnitude occur in the Earth’s atmosphere each day. The vast majority of these, however, occur over the oceans and uninhabited regions, and a good many are masked by daylight. Those that occur at night also stand little chance of being detected due to the relatively low numbers of persons out to notice them. … Additionally, the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event.”
According to the European Space Agency, the Russian meteor was not related to the asteroid 2012 DA14 which is passing the Earth today in one of the closest near misses on record for an asteroid of this size. You can watch the asteroid pass by Earth, as it happens, via this JPL live video stream.
UPDATE 10:50am PT, 2/15/2013: Dan Vergano at USA Today adds this context to all of the above:
…
The Russian meteor’s damage was from the air pressure wave it created as it zoomed into the atmosphere, says [MIT asteroid expert Richard] Binzel, who estimates the object was likely, “about the size of an SUV.” An asteroid the size of 2012 DA14 would break up at about 30,000 feet in altitude if it ran into the Earth, Melosh estimates. Unfortunately this is the “optimal” height in military terms, he says, for delivering the full force of its blast to the surface. “It’s tempting to spin out these terrible scenarios where it happens over Moscow or London, which would be devastating, but the truth is that cities are not covering that much of the Earth, and so it is very unlikely that one would be hit,” Melosh says. Plus, we would have at least a month to evacuate a city or region that appeared at risk under circumstances similar to 2012 DA14’s discovery.
So…rest easy and have a great, non-apocalyptic day!
Nice catch Brad. So much for depending on predictions from NASA, huh? This seems like it is very possible and if so, my best to those who were injured. And nice job by the Russians in blasting the damn thing. Wow, how much does this sound like science fiction. I guess we’ll know more soon. Looked like a number of POVs so I wonder if regular folks just video’d it as it was happening and sent it into RT maybe? Who knows!
Ya know, the universe has a funny way of letting the stupid people of this precious blue planet that they truly are not the masters of the universe! Smoke that in your pipe f******g idiot MOTU!!!!!
And on another note, I hope all good folks who care about making real progress on climate change haul their butts down to DC this Sunday. Yours truly will be there. 🙂
Here’s some theme music for the rally:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGE0ZZH96b0
And so you don’t feel left out here’s a little something for the MOTU:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l64Bte5ygvM
:-0 :-}
There is always the possibility of larger meteorites hitting the Earth. Are the governments doing everything they could to develop the technology to detect and destroy these meteorites before they hit the ground?
150 ft wide, Mega DA14 asteroid, large enough to lay waste to London, will narrowly miss earth this evening.
I was lucky enough to be watching when a meteor passed over Salt Lake when I was very young. It was night outside, but turned to noon day for a couple of seconds.
Very exciting, but I’m really glad it wasn’t accompanied by glass shards.
For those stuck on 1 plane of thought, karma is not a bitch…your lucky she graciously gives you more than 1 go round! Now, can we stop slaughtering people for having different peaceful beliefs??????
An oh yeah, Oh Larry…I LOVE your comments. OXOXOX Delayed Valentines!
Night,night ALL. Peace be with you while the sun turns around us.
I’m not going to comment much more, but somebody please close the thingy! 🙂
Trust me, I’m not one of those emotionally impaired assholes you probably have to deal with like I do as a nurse, that doesn’t even have a grip on themselves, let alone somebody else.
This quote thingy thing adds to the totally pissed off thing at my own Damn Country…we may be treading USA targeting waters at this point with our secrecy laws in place. Your coolest dealer may be a bomb target dropped on your house, FOR WHAT REASON? We need clarification, not secrecy! Well HEY, that’s just little ole me talking back at yall!
May the sun set on the WRONG REASON.
That means…I’m tired of fighting bogus bullshit bandwith.I want people to get together for the truth of the matter. Ever since st. ronnie more and more people have been DECIEVED, and escaped public punishment. DAMN STRAIGHT YOU FEW PRICKS THAT DESERVE PUBLIC INTERROGATION …seemed to have escaped public punishment…THAT DOESN’T TAKE PLACE BEHIND A DOOR THAT INCLUDES THE MEDIA HEADS, NOW DOES IT?
LIVE FREE OR DIE.
Shanna @ 4 inquired, “Are the governments doing everything they could to develop the technology to detect and destroy these meteorites before they hit the ground?”
In a word, Shanna, no. In a few more: far from it! Why this event would “certainly” seem to anyone a hoax, even initially, I find somewhat perplexing; the threat is real and quite serious. Indeed, it’s a subject perhaps even worthy of coverage in a “Green News Report” someday — stranger things have come up there. Meanwhile, I will not be resting easy: there are a lot more where this one came from, we don’t know where they all are, and we remain unprepared to defend ourselves in any case. That’s no way to run a civilization.
And that is the state of New Hampshire’s state motto. I’ll have you know, I am a peace loving woman who has had enough of her country’s double talking bullcackaa.
That is bullcUckaa!!!!!!!!! My spelling sucks sometimes. 🙁
Take it home now, for people like Bradley Manning. OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX I LOVE YOU BRADLEY.
I hope even Pauly see this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEo9Bh679wM
and we know our sister is mucho biased…
love still.
May you May you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRVu-T73Zo
love,
Tina
Hey there Pauly…I still have things that need done. The loss of secrecy is one, standing with or not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hRVu-T73Zo
Just checking in.
Ancient:
It’s, not so much, your message. I think it’s your punctuation.
Like the vids,
Hey Lar, I’m not so sure about the punctuation thing…but hey that’s just me. 🙂 BUT… here’s my prayer for America!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=WkQjsxzpmAs&feature=endscreen
An oh yeah Larry, here’s sumpin I found that provides insight into the male side:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=Yr9r_Q6cdT0&NR=1
Jus wondering what ya think. I do egg mitt I just watched ‘The Man With The Iron Fists.”
Did you see him crack the whip like I did in that vid?
I guess I’ll close out the night with this one though…and tomorrow will be a better day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=srpwqf2MWAw&feature=fvwp
No labels, gracious senor.
An oh yeah Brad, its nice to have a news blog I can trust.
Had to pull out my copy of “Deep Impact”.
I really love that movie because it portrayed Americans as dealing with disaster with dignity.
New York did exactly that when 911 happened.
Larry, really? I still suspect insiders, and this is why I still advocate for another unbiased, actual FACT finding 911 report.In order to lead democraticaly, WE MUST BE REAL LEADERS! The planet can no longer be for just rich white paranoid powerful men.
An Hey Larry back to the punctuation thing…I confess one of my favorite authors is eecummings! If you want to try something wild, get a copy of his complete works and after reading, go to the index of first lines (in the back)and read it backwards! 🙂
An oh yeah Larry, as per your doubt of my message, let me just say this…Agreed it is not just old rich white men today, but their old school thinking has corrupted people of all kinds. Now, I don’t hate anyone, just their ignorance. And as I see it, one of the biggest problems to exposing our collective ignorance is that the people who claim to be championing Democracy, are actually afraid of it. Take this for instance!:
Dear Ancient,
In the last few weeks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a host of giant corporations — including AT&T, Verizon and our veteran online spy Comcast — have come out in support of CISPA.
That’s right — the same companies that block our freedom to connect online in so many ways are all too ready to jump on the CISPA bandwagon.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Internet users are standing up for the free and open Internet and saying “NO” to CISPA. Take action now to join them. Help us bury CISPA for good.
Thanks,
Josh
free press action fund