Recreate the Russian Meteor Impact with Online Simulator

Want to recreate the Russian meteor hit? You can use Purdue University's "Impact: Earth!" online program to run various impact scenarios and see what would happen if an asteroid or meteor crashed into the Earth near Brooklyn.

This simulation lets you vary the size of the meteor or asteroid, its density, degree of impact, speed of flight, the distance (you are) from impact and what the meteor crashes into.

 The program then tells you what happens at various distances from the place of impact.

 We tried the program out by simulating a meteor 55 feet across, like the Russian meteor. Less dense meteors didn't have a dramatic effect, so we made ours of high-density iron, and had it coming in at an 89 degree angle at a fast speed (71 km/sec) hitting rock.

What happens if we're standing one mile away from the impact:

The air blast arrives 28.7 seconds after impact. Maximum wind velocity is 210 mph. Sound intensity is 93 dB (causing ear pain).

Multistory wall-bearing buildings collapse; wood frame buildings collapse almost completely.
Glass windows shatter. Up to 90 percent of trees blow down; the remainder are stripped of branches and leaves.



That scenario is not the end of the world -- though it would be the end of much of Brooklyn.

A much larger meteor, however, would be. To feed our need for visual stimulation, we found the above realistic simulation of a 300 mile wide asteroid striking the Earth, as depicted in "Miracle Planet: The Violent Past."

(Spoiler alert:
There are no survivors.)


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