Meteor explodes over US with blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT
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WASHINGTON - A meteor crashing towards Earth exploded over the north-eastern United States on May 30, NASA said, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT.
The fireball broke up over north-eastern Massachusetts and south-eastern New Hampshire at 2.06pm, the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement.
“This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said.
“The energy released at break-up is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tonnes of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.”
The meteor was travelling at 120,700kmh at an altitude of 64km when it broke apart, Dooren said.
Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that houses were shaking.
In 2013, a fireball streaked above Chelyabinsk, Russia.
The house-sized space rock blew apart 22.5km above the ground, releasing a blast equivalent to 440,000 tonnes of TNT, NASA said.
The explosion blew out windows over 518sq km, injuring more than 1,600 people, mostly due to broken glass. AFP
