A meteor raced across the sky in southern Russia, causing a sonic boom that blew out windows and caused the collapse of buildings.
The shockwave from the explosion of the meteorite caused over 1100 injuries in the area around Chebarkul. Children made 82 of the injuries and two are in intensive care.
The nearby city of Chelyabinsk is believed to have receive the brunt of the impact from the shockwave. A zinc factory in the city was destroyed when the shockwave caused the roof to collapse. Residents reported hearing a “series of explosions” just before the shockwave struck the town. Power was out through the region and cell phone service is spotty at best.
‘I saw a bright blast from behind me. Everything was lit up, very bright light,” Gulnara Dudka told reporters. ‘It was like from Armageddon movie when the meteorite rain started, I really thought it was like doomsday. It was so scary especially the explosion. It was very strong. I am speechless. It was so strong. My camera couldn’t reproduce how strong the bang was.’
Russian military officials found a 20 foot wide hole in the ground close to Lake Chebarkul leading them to believe that is the point of impact. The officials also stated that a nearby nuclear storage facility had not been impacted in any way by the shockwave and there is no danger to the community from a radiation leak.
Dr. Robert Massey of the Royal Astronomical Society told the Daily Mail that it’s very unlikely the meteor is connected to the asteroid due to skim Earth’s orbit later tonight. He said the Russian meteorites were traveling east to west while 2012 DA14 will be flying past north to south.
