Meteorite crash in Russia: explosions in Chelyabinsk

[G_j]

Source: Voice of Russia

Meteorite crash in Russia: explosions in Chelyabinsk (VIDEO). 2 15 2013


A series of explosions in the skies of Russia’s Urals region, reportedly caused by a meteor shower, has sparked panic in three major cities. Witnesses said that houses shuddered, windows were blown out and cellphones stopped working.

In Chelyabinsk, witnesses said the explosion was so loud that it resembled an earthquake and thunder at the same time, and that there were huge trails of smoke across the sky. Others reported seeing burning objects fall to earth.

Office buildings in downtown Chelyabinsk are being evacuated. The regional Emergency Ministry said the phenomenon was a meteorite shower, but locals have speculated that it was a military fighter jet crash or a missile explosion.

“According to preliminary data, the flashes seen over the Urals were caused by [a] meteorite shower," the Emergency Ministry told Itar-Tass news agency.



Read more: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_15/Meteorite-crash-in-Russia-explosions-in-Chelyabinsk/

---

**make sure to watch the video

[elleng]

1. Here too:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022378238

[Coyotl]

63. VIDEO: Full News Report ==== meteorite explosion in the stratosphere ====

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2013, 12:48 PM - Edit history (1)

#!

meteorite explosion in the stratosphere

Meteorite hits Russian Urals: Fireball explosion wreaks havoc, over 900 injured (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283/

.........

Russia’s Urals region has been rocked by a meteorite explosion in the stratosphere. The impact wave damaged several buildings, and blew out thousands of windows amid frigid winter weather. Hundreds have sought medical attention for minor injuries.

.............

Army units found three meteorite debris impact sites, two of which are in an area near Chebarkul Lake, west of Chelyabinsk. The third site was found some 80 kilometers further to the northwest, near the town of Zlatoust. One of the fragments that struck near Chebarkul left a crater six meters in diameter.



..........

[Coyotl]

68. More images, NOTE windows knocked out by pressure wave.

[elleng]

81. Thanks and WOW!

[Bennyboy]

2. Some big questions..

Contrails? What meteor shower? Could this be that meteor that is due on Friday? really mind blowing stuff and the reaction seems a bit weird too. Might be days till we find out the details...if we ever find out he details.

[elleng]

5. It's an asteroid that's 'due' 'Friday!'

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/01/31/asteroid-to-buzz-by-earth-closer-than-satellites

[jannyk]

7. It Is/was Friday in Russia

Is this 'thing' a part of the other one or just one we didn't see coming?

[elleng]

9. I don't know,

and hope 'they' do. This 'thing' didn't look like a meteor shower, which we've all seen, but don't think we've seen anything like this enormous thing. As for the date, not sure, but this biggie seems to have arrived either 2/13 or 2/14, depending on story I read.

[Posteritatis]

32. This is exactly what a big enough rock from a meteor shower would look like

If you were higher up in the atmosphere, it's also what a lot of typical ones would look like - the difference here is that this blew up at a much lower altitude.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

41. a meteor shower happens outside of our atmosphere

this one exploded as/after it passed through (that was the bright light) then the pieces fell.

[jberryhill]

106. Well, it landed in a lake, so it is a meteor bath now

[eppur_se_muova]

95. No, it appears to be just a bizarre coincidence.

Apparently the asteroid and meteor were traveling in completely different orbits. See http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy.html

[Harry Monroe]

56. Technically you are right and wrong

Once the thing enters the atmosphere, it is classified as a meteor. Any thing left that is on the ground is a meteorite.

[AtheistCrusader]

6. Yes, Meteorites, of sufficient size, will leave trails in the sky.

Not precisely contrails though. Contrails are clouds, water vapor. Left visible by the pressure disturbance of a passing aircraft, and particles of soot and unburned fuel, that the water vapor in the air gloms onto.

These trails are more likely mostly smoke, from the surface of the meteorite ablating away from the friction of our atmosphere. but that will also give water vapor something to cling to, so it's probably partly 'contrail' as well. It's not really a proper use of the word though, IMO.

[longship]

10. It's not friction from the atmosphere.

It's the compression of the air in front of the meteor that heats up the air and ablates the surface of the meteor. It's like a tire pump; you pump it fast, it gets hot.

Friction is only a minor issue.

When a meteorite lands on Earth, it is likely to be cool, even cold.

Amazing, but fact.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

36. No.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21468116

Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid expected to race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200 miles) - the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.

Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, of the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, said there was "almost definitely" no connection.

"One reason is that 2012 DA14 is approaching Earth from the south, and this object hit in the northern hemisphere," he told BBC News.

"This is literally a cosmic coincidence, although a spectacular one."

[kestrel91316]

48. This was a meteor. I've seen them before (though not with

the trail of smoke and sonic boom). The asteroid due today is MUCH larger than this and won't hit us.

[TwilightGardener]

3. That isn't that big boy that was supposed to skirt us, eh?

That would be a huge thing, though. Must be just a coincidence.

[Posteritatis]

34. Probably not. A lot of meteors come down daily

This one was obviously larger than usual, of course, but even this probably wasn't terribly big at all.

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Shades of Tunguska, perhaps?

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/30jun_tunguska/

[CreekDog]

8. You know, if some meteors crashed into that Cruise Ship

I think DU would spontaneously combust.

[AsahinaKimi]

11. wowie zowie !

[ellisonz]

12. Holy Crap

[countryjake]

26. Oy vey! My heart would have stopped pumping right there!

You should put a warning on that one, lol, I had a cat on my lap!

I can't even imagine what those poor people living there must have thought was happening.

Thanks for posting that video, Kimi!

[AsahinaKimi]

30. More below

People were hurt over this thing.

[AngryAmish]

61. Cloverfield

[awoke_in_2003]

73. Wow. nt

[DainBramaged]

13. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

It's the end of the World as we know it.......

[Tx4obama]

14. Meteorite Streaks Across Russian Urals, Leaves At Least 100 Injured

Meteorite Streaks Across Russian Urals, Leaves At Least 100 Injured

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/meteorite-streaks-across-russian-urals_n_2691904.html

[Gabby Hayes]

15. It gets a little weirder

Here's a snapshot for your Armageddon scrapbook. RSOE just updated its list a few minutes ago:

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php

[countryjake]

104. Zooming in on that is interesting...

showing how large an area must have experienced the meteor; the distance between Chelyabinsk, the Chebarkul lake, and Satka.

Thanks for sharing!

[RetroGamer1971]

16. Here is an update from gawker sister site Gizmodo: HOLY SHIT!

#t=0s

Meteorite Crashes In Russia, Panic Spreads (Updating)

A meteorite has just exploded over Russia. This doesn't feel good when you know that a 150-foot asteroid is about to fly by Earth—and you read about the actual effects in the case the astronomers' calculations are wrong. What's more incredible: unconfirmed reports say that an air defense unit fired a missile as the meteor entered Russian airspace at supersonic speeds, shattering it to pieces.

According to witnesses, windows were blown out and cellphones have stopped working. The Russian Emergency Ministry says that there are 20,000 rescue workers deployed in the area. Aircrafts are now flying over the area looking for impacts.

The event was observed in the regions of Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Sverdlovsk, located in the Republic of Bashkiria and in northern Kazakhstan. [RT]

http://gizmodo.com/5984476/meteorite-crashes-in-russia-panic-spreads

[countryjake]

25. Yikes! That second video where you can hear the blast is so freaky!

It reminds me of when I was young and they first started doing the sonic booms...we had no idea what the hell was happening, and it just scared the crap out of us and all our animals.

The whole notion that the world is awaiting the passing of the really big asteroid is what is most frightening about the meteorite in Russia. They are saying that this meteor was only the size of a kitchen table (what the hell kind of comparison is that, anyway?) so of course, now imaginations have run wild, wondering and hoping that astronomers have correctly done their calculations on the BIG ONE, ha!

Thanks for posting those videos! Here's one more, from a distance (no boom):

[Evasporque]

79. It was a quiet day in Feburary when it began.

It started with what appeared to be isolated meteor, but as know now, it was just the beginning of the invasion.

[bananas]

17. Looks like this brick building got hit - cloud of smoke and the wall collapsed

http://zyalt.livejournal.com/722930.html?nojs=1

<snip>







<snip>

[jberryhill]

105. Or merely collapsed from the pressure wave

[ZRT2209]

18. it exploded just above the ground

[Gabby Hayes]

19. Bulletins from RT (Russia Today)

http://rt.com/news/russia-meteor-meteorite-asteroid-chelyabinsk-291/

Must be serious, because in the pictures posted above Russian drivers are slowing down to look. Who knew they had brake lights in Russia?

[Hissyspit]

20. Reuters: 150 Hurt

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/15/russia-meteorite-idUSL5N0BF0RB20130215

[countryjake]

23. Voice of Russia is saying that meteor victims nearing 500...

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_15/500-people-turn-for-medical-help-after-Russian-meteorite-crash/

They said on CNN International that most of the injuries being reported were from shattering glass caused by the thunderous explosion that occurred as the meteor entered the atmosphere.

[Hissyspit]

47. 950 now.

@BreakingNews: As many as 950 people seek medical aid after meteorite pieces fall in Russia - @ria_novosti http://t.co/exks8Vid more: http://t.co/reMRNtv8

[blkmusclmachine]

21. A drone misfired.

[toddmiller]

22. Latest word is over 400 injured by blown out glass

The latest story says over 400 injured and a roof caved in but now word if there is a crash site. Some Russian authorities said it may have exploded before it hit the ground.

[toddmiller]

24. Russian scientists explain why it's unrelated to 2012 DA14

Here's the link.

[99th_Monkey]

27. So no one saw this meteor bombardment coming?

That seems odd.

[Posteritatis]

28. Why? Space is very big and most meteorites aren't.

Also the budget for sky surveys isn't exactly lavish.

[Harry Monroe]

60. I think this quote from the movie "Armageddon" says it well:

President: We didn't see this thing coming?

Dan: Well, our object collision budget's a million dollars. That allows us to track about 3% of the sky, and beg'n your pardon sir, but it's a big-ass sky.

[kestrel91316]

50. Nothing the slightest bit odd about it.

Falling stars, meteors, bits of space rock........thousands of them hit the earth every day. Most go unnoticed.

Larger ones like this cause a fuss. BIG rocks like the asteroid due today would be cataclysmic. Most of them are too small to see coming.

[99th_Monkey]

90. I heard one report that it may have been "space junk"

of our own making. so there's that.

[Posteritatis]

92. It definitely wouldn't be that

The speed is vastly too high - it was definitely moving at interplanetary velocity, not orbital velocity - and there's no human-created space junk up there that's big and dense enough to hold together and then explode in that manner.

Mir was much larger, but owing to its structure it came apart gradually on the way down. This was compact enough that there wasn't much ablation until it gave way entirely, and it was moving two or three times as fast as anything that can stay in orbit is.

[AntiFascist]

112. This line of thought deserves to be pursued further...

the object was only 10 feet in size and the space shuttle even travels at over 17,000 mph in low earth orbit (the Apollo lunar module achieved speeds close to 25,000 mph). The Mir was a hollow space ship, but it's conceivable that some sort of experimental weapon could be dense enough to withstand reentry and perhaps fired at approximately twice the speed of orbit. There's also the extremely unlikely coincidence that this happens to be one of Russia's most secretive nuclear weapons development sites (which the media so far has not mentioned). Google Chelyabinsk-70

If this were the case, I would suspect the Chinese over the US, as US scientists (Lawrence Livermore lab specifically) have been collaborating with nuclear scientists at Chelyabinsk.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chelyabinsk-70_nuc.htm

Chelyabinsk-70 / Snezhinsk
Russian Federal Nuclear Center
All-Russian Institute of Technical Physics (VNIITF)

...

The primary mission of VNIITF is designing nuclear weapons and providing scientific support to nuclear weapons throughout their life-cycle. The Institute is responsible for all gravity bombs and SLBM warheads as well as for numerous other types of strategic and tactical weapons. It also was the primary designer of peaceful nuclear explosive devices.

...

VNIITF joined the Russian-American Laboratory-to- Laboratory program early in 1995, and has subsequently become one of the principal Russian institutes working in the program. The main initial focus of the laboratory-to-laboratory cooperation has been to design and implement nuclear materials protection, control, and accounting (MPC&A) enhancements at a physics research site known as the Pulsed Reactor Research Facility. It has several critical assemblies that use highly enriched uranium, in various forms. Plans for MPC&A improvements had been developed by VNIITF specialists starting several years ago, but implementation was slow because of budgetary constraints. One of the first concrete results from the Laboratory-to-Laboratory cooperation was the installation of pedestrian monitors at the entrance to the site in June 1995. A vehicle monitor was installed in the Fall. Operating experience with this equipment has been favorable, and additional portal monitors will now be deployed this year across several other VNIITF sites. Also to be completed in 1996 are MPC&A enhancements at the Pulsed Reactor Research Facility.

In early 1997 Chelyabinsk-70 boasted about its import of a U.S.-made supercomputer, thus setting off a U.S. criminal investigation and attempts in Congress to reverse Clinton administration decisions that relaxed computer export controls. There are at least five American supercomputers in two of Russia's nuclear weapons labs: Chelyabinsk-70 and Arzamas-16. Minister Mikhailov of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy said in a speech in January 1997 that they will be used to simulate nuclear explosions, and that the computers are "10 times faster than any previously available in Russia." Four of the five supercomputers in Russia's nuclear weapons labs came from Silicon Graphics. Silicon Graphics sold supercomputers to the Russian nuclear weapons laboratory Chelyabinsk-70 without bothering to apply for a Commerce Department export license. Silicon Graphics said it thought the end user, the Chelyabinsk-70 physics research laboratory, wanted to use the devices for environmental research.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has listed Chelyabinsk-70 as engaging in weapons proliferation and has required U.S. companies to inquire about whether to submit license applications for all exports to these destinations. This addition to what Commerce calls the Entity List were published June 30, 1997 in a Federal Register notice.

[Posteritatis]

113. Or, y'know, a meteor came down and exploded in the atmosphere. (nt)

[AntiFascist]

114. Directly over one of two secretive nuclear warhead development facilities in Russia...

and on the same exact day when most people would be focused on a near Earth asteroid pass.

I suppose coincidences do happen.

[Posteritatis]

115. You have a funny definition of "directly over." (nt)

[AntiFascist]

117. Close enough to all the secret nuclear facilities...

http://enenews.com/tv-russian-nuclear-facility-meteor-fragments-landed-really-fortunate-be-talking-about-nuclear-disaster-about-radiation-levels-video

...

Top secret facilities are all over the place there. There is one nuclear storage facility called Mayak*.

A lot of people are saying this is really in the best graces that none of the asteroids, and there were at least 5 fragments of the asteroid, that it’s really fortunate that none of the asteroid had landed into that facility. Because that obviously, we would be talking about nuclear disaster there.

[AsahinaKimi]

29. Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt

CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.

A fireball blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phone networks were interrupted.

"I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day," said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.

http://news.yahoo.com/possible-meteor-shower-reported-eastern-russia-052833588.html

[Blue_Tires]

76. It's a miracle there wasn't more loss of life

[snooper2]

80. not a miracle, just chance...

[christx30]

108. Can you imagine

if there had happened to be a plane in the area ? Would the shockwave from the explosion have been enough to hurt it?

[OKNancy]

31. kick for updates

[muriel_volestrangler]

35. BBC report:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21468116

[abbyjoseph]

45. Meteorite Shower Hits Russia Injuring Over 900

More than 900 people have been injured after a meteor strike in central Russia, the country's interior ministry said.

Fragments of at least one meteorite - the weight of a double-decker bus - were seen falling from the sky in the Chelyabinsk region at around 9am local time, around 1,500km east of Moscow.

A regional governor said 950 people have been injured. Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies said at least 82 children were hurt and 34 adults and 12 children were being treated in hospital. Two people are in intensive care.

http://news.sky.com/story/1052514/meteorite-shower-hits-russia-injuring-over-900

[bigworld]

33. And CNN still has nothing about it on their homepage

And they wonder why their ratings are down?

[csziggy]

100. CNN anchor blames the asteroid on climate change

CNN anchor suggests meteor hurtling toward Earth could be a result of global warming

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 09:41 EST, 12 February 2013

A CNN anchor has asked on live television whether a meteor hurtling past Earth was the result of global warming.

Deborah Feyeric made the faux pas when she transitioned from a discussion about global warming and the blizzard that struck to east coast into a a segment about Asteroid 2012 DA14 - which is projected to pass just 17,200 miles from Earth on Friday.

'We want to bring in our science guy, Bill Nye, and talk about something else that’s falling from the sky, and that is an asteroid,' Feyerick says. 'What’s coming our way? Is this the effect of, perhaps, global warming? Or is this just some meteoric occasion?'

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277529/CNN-anchor-suggests-meteor-hurtling-Earth-result-global-warming.html

[AntiFascist]

37. Can anyone read Russian?

9:36 GMT: There is a high chance that another meteorite could enter the Earth’s atmosphere in the next few hours, Sergey Smirnov from Pulkovo Observatory told Vesti news channel.

They also claim that this was not related to asteroid DA-14, scheduled to pass by Earth today.

[Hissyspit]

38. 11:12 GMT: Nearly 725 people have requested medical assistance in regions hit by the meteor shower.

http://rt.com/news/meteorite-crash-urals-chelyabinsk-283

[Blandocyte]

39. Is this linked to global warming? Heh. n/t

[marshall]

52. Climate Change was my first thought as well

When will the madness stop?

[drm604]

58. I don't see how.

Meteors come from outside the atmosphere. When they cross Earth's orbit they enter the atmosphere. I can't imagine how our atmospheric temperature could in any way affect the odds of a meteoroid crossing our path.

[happyslug]

59. In simple terms NO

Now a big enough Meteorite could throw enough dirt into the air to REDUCE global temperatures (and this is the main theory of the extinction of the Dinosaurs). Generally it would have to be quite large, almost Comet size to do that much damage. These smaller meteorites would have almost no effect on global temperatures.

[Ian David]

40. Thanks, Obama!

[Myrina]

44. Tsk, it's not Obama's fault ... it's Gawd, mad that we chased the Pope off his throne!

Some of the End-Tea-Timers must be creaming their panties today.

[Blue_Tires]

77. way ahead of you...

Conspiracy theories already flourishing in Russia about meteor explosion

When I had coffee this morning with a fellow journalist who was born in Ukraine and had just returned from a reporting trip to Moscow, she told me that the one thing I should keep in mind about public reaction to the meteor that streamed over central Russia today is that superstition runs deep in that country. The predicted Mayan “apocalypse” in December, for example, was widely reported in Russian media as a seriously plausible event, she said.

It turns out that she may have been on to something. The site RussiaSlam, which monitors Russian social media, is gathering Web commentary from within the country. So far, theories include the biblical apocalypse and an alien invasion.

A poll on the Web site for the Ridus news agency shows that 51 percent of respondents believe the meteor is the start of an alien invasion, according to RussiaSlam.

To be clear, judging by the Web commentary that RussiaSlam has gathered so far, the majority of Internet users seem to be treating the meteor incident as only that, with some rolling their eyes at the stranger theories. Every country, including the United States, has its fair share of fringe conspiracy theories. Moments like this can provide an interesting glimpse of those theories.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/02/15/conspiracy-theories-already-flourishing-in-russia-about-meteor-explosion/

[Baclava]

42. DOOMED! It's a sign

Listen to all the car alarms

[video=youtube;rc1QmmWVb2M]

[/video]

[Bay Boy]

49. I agree...

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2013, 12:57 PM - Edit history (1)

...a religious sign. Did you hear all the people talking in 'tongues'?

[happyslug]

64. And no cars in the area of the pictures, so I doubt they are car alarms

Most likely some Alarm tied in with the structure to warn people of some danger, probably a fire alarm.

Remember Russia does NOT have the number of cars that the US or Europe. Presently Russia has more cars per person then China, but China is where more new cars are sold then any other country (Beating out the US, which had been #1 for decades). Russia it is only 271 per 1000 citizens, in the US it is 812, Germany, 634, Canada 620, United Kingdom, 525, Greece 451, Israel 342, Mexico 276.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.VEH.NVEH.P3

China had 58 cars per 1000 people in 2010, mostly due to greater use of bicycles AND its huge rural population that do NOT use automobiles (Through that is changing going from 47 per 1000 people to 58 per 1000 people between 2009 and 2010):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita

Thus it COULD be car alarms, but it may just be a regular alarm.

[Baclava]

67. Holy shit. you've never heard car alarms before? Where do you live?

Those are car alarms, the video is from an inner courtyard of a housing project of some kind, the parking lots aren't in sight and I don't need "Russia is just a backward country stats" to prove it.

so there

[happyslug]

69. I have also heard those same type of sounds from OTHER ALARMS

The Sound is NOT unique, it is a common sound for alarms, especially emergency alarms used in Schools, Hospitals, Apartment buildings etc. Just because you have ONLY heard those sounds from Car Alarms does NOT make those Car Alarms. Many Factories, even in the US, had vibration sensitive alarms that go off do to explosions, some thing hitting a wall (The object hitting the wall can be an animal, Deer, Moose etc)l some explosion in another part of the factory or Apartment complex etc. Quite common, most do NOT go off like Car Alarms, but they exist even in the US. Thus I suspect it was this type of alarm, set to go off in certain circumstances that the Meteorite triggered. May be tied in with a Car may NOT be tied in with a Car. The video does NOT confirm it one way or another.

My comment was, until you have some way to CONFIRM that these were Car Alarms, you are speculating that they were car alarm, and to go by the SOUND is NOT a way to confirm such alarms are Car Alarms. You can say alarms were set off, you can say it sounds like Car Alarms, but you can not, based on that video alone, that these were actually Car Alarms. That last step is NOT supported by the Video and given that such alarms are common in many apartment complexes, businesses etc (and tend to be independent of the each other AND and central control, to make sure at least one of them will work if and when they are needed) to call them Car Alarms is one step to far based on the evidence that actually exists (i.e. this video).

[Baclava]

71. ha ha - who cares? it's not a fucking debate - go eat some toast

you'll feel better

[DisgustipatedinCA]

75. Go eat some toast....I'm borrowing that one from you

Looks like a great way to defuse what shouldn't be a debate.

[muriel_volestrangler]

74. Alarms that sound like that are far more common in cars than buildings

Alarms that are set off by sudden movement (such as from a shock wave) are far more common in cars than buildings. It doesn't matter much, but it is far, far, more likely to be car alarms than building alarms.

[uppityperson]

83. I watched a video that scanned across the parking lot showing cars with lights flashing as alarms

went off. I guess there could have been small children in them, stepping on the brakelights rythmically and honking the horn.

Watch more videos. And congratulations on taking today's award (so far) on most words defending something that really doesn't matter.

[countryjake]

91. Hee hee!

"I guess there could have been small children in them, stepping on the brakelights rythmically and honking the horn"

And you win today's award for best comeback, ever!

[uppityperson]

96. Well, you know, not a lot to do during those cold winters in old soviet block housing developments.

[go west young man]

85. Been to Russia 7 times.

Everyone has a car alarm and a dash cam. Those are car alarms. Russian buildings are quite dilapidated and most don't have alarms sadly. The one's that do have bell type alarms from what I have seen.

[Hissyspit]

46. @BreakingNews: As many as 950 people seek medical aid after meteorite pieces fall in Russia - @ria_n

@BreakingNews: As many as 950 people seek medical aid after meteorite pieces fall in Russia - @ria_novosti http://t.co/exks8Vid more: http://t.co/reMRNtv8

[G_j]

53. Wow nt

[Poll_Blind]

51. Today, I learned that if I ever see a big-ass meteorite streaking across the sky...

....that instead of standing there, kvetching with everybody about how big and unusually close the smoke trail is, I need to be getting my ass indoors and away from windows. For some reason, that would have never occurred to me and I feel bad for all the people who were injured from glass and debris when the meteorite's blast broke windows.

Honestly, after the amazing and heartbreaking footage of so many natural disasters around the world and various dangerous situations in general, it seems to me that the very best thing you can do in any of those situations, regardless of how non-threatening they might seem at that moment, is just get the fuck away as quick as possible. Get indoors, get to higher ground. Don't just stand there admiring (whatever).

PB

[slackmaster]

57. I've seen a daylight bolide, and an old Soviet satellite re-entering the atmosphere on its way...

...to a splashdown off the coast of Argentina.

Both very impressive events.

[mopinko]

65. why sir, you are not blind at all.

your hindsight is 20/20.

[dixiegrrrrl]

88. instead of: ""We saw a big burst of light, then went outside to see what it was "

Apparently there are few of us "duck and cover" generation left.

[countryjake]

97. I think it's just animal curiosity that makes us want to see...

If you've ever seen a tornado raging across the fields or even just a storm front heading your way, it is actually very hard to stop watching and head for safety to hunker down.

I felt a tremendous empathy last night as the injury stats grew higher and higher after that meteor crashed over Russia. I, too, would have ran to look immediately when that bright flash appeared and tho I would have probably chosen to run outdoors, all of those poor city people simply went to their windows to find out what was happening and the wave of booms broke those windows right in their wondering faces.

The many car cam videos that I've been watching present another amazing human conundrum to me. Some of them show that meteor heading directly at them, the flash so bright that the road can't even be seen clearly, but the drivers never stop or pull over. That, I think, is really odd. First thing I'd do is get off the road, to be able to watch whatever it was more easily. (Course, if they ever report a woman found dead in ditch under meteorite, that'd be me!)

[greiner3]

54. "Chelyabinsk-The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet"

"In the late 1940's, about 80 kilometers north of the city of Chelyabinsk, an atomic weapons complex called "Mayak" was built. Its existence has only recently been acknowledged by Russian officials. Mayak, bordered to the west by the Ural Mountains, and to the north by Siberia, was the goal of Gary Powers's surveillance flight in May of 1960."

snip

"On September 29, 1957 a liquid radioactive waste storage tank exploded following a failure in the cooling system and polluted an area equal to the size of New Jersey with plutonium and strontium. The explosion formed a radioactive cloud over the provinces of Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen. A total area of 23,000 sq. kilometers was contaminated and the area is now called the East Ural Radioactive Trace, the EURT. This accident was kept secret from the outside world for military safety reasons and 10,700 people were silently evacuated. This nuclear accident released twice the amount of curies that were released by the Chernobyl accident."

snip

"According to the head of the UCRM clinical department the rate of leukemia has doubled in the last two decades. Skin cancers have quadrupled over the last 33 years. The total number of people suffering from cancer has risen by 21%. The number of people suffering from vascular diseases has risen 31%. Birth defects have increased by 25%. Kosenko carried out a small epidemiological study of 100 people selected at random. From this group 96% had at least five chronic diseases (heart diseases, high blood pressure, arthritis and asthma), 30% had as many as ten chronic conditions. Local doctors estimate that half the men and women at child bearing age are sterile."

snip

"1967: The Lake Karachay accident

Two self-contained natural lakes near the plant were chosen to divert waste dumping in the river-system - lake Karachay for high-level waste and lake Staroe Boloto for medium level waste. During the long, hot summer of 1967, lake Karachay dried up and radioactive waste from the exposed lake blew over an area of 2,200 sq. kilometers. Other accidents, irresponsible nuclear waste disposal and day-to-day operations of the Mayak nuclear-chemical facility have contaminated an area with a diameter of 400 km."

A whole lot more;

http://www.wentz.net/radiate/cheyla/index.htm

Hell, this city's population needs to be relocated, the buildings razed, the ground-a trillion tons of it, decontaminated.

If the meteorite had happened just prior to December 21st last year, and in this country, the kooks in the US would have been screaming, 'I told you so.'

That is until December 22nd.

[hunter]

66. I'll bet North Korea is making a mess too.

Just like the USA did when we lit off this Atomic Age.

[Hestia]

87. [gulp] Thanks for the info. I thought the name sounded familiar but...

[slackmaster]

55. Fuckin'-A!

[Arctic Dave]

62. Quick, let's build a church over the impact crater and kill each other over it for the

next two thousand years while we interpret what gods message was.

Wait... nevermind, some assholes in the Middle East are doing that already.

[LanternWaste]

70. Why go to all the trouble of constructing something?

Why go to all the trouble of constructing something? Quick, simply pretend there are red and blue lines on the ground and kill each other for it too while we interpret what human deserves land more than another human .




Wait... never-mind, some human jerks have been doing that since the dawn of humanity already.

[Arctic Dave]

72. True. But land wars are a little more rational.

It is a lot more fun to see people go insane over make believe stuff.

[Gorp]

78. I saw somewhere that it was like, I forget, but around 30' wide.

That's a pretty big rock! A lot of people were injured but I didn't see anything about deaths. Any clue? It would scare me silly.

[struggle4progress]

82. Meteor explodes over Russia’s Ural Mountains; 1,100 injured as shock wave blows in windows

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, February 15, 1:05 PM

MOSCOW — A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over Russia’s Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb Friday, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring about 1,100 people ...

The meteor — estimated to be about 10 tons — entered the Earth’s atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 54,000 kph (33,000 mph) and shattered into pieces about 30-50 kilometers (18-32 miles) above the ground, the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement ...

Meteors typically cause sizeable sonic booms when they enter the atmosphere because they are traveling so much faster than the speed of sound. Injuries on the scale reported Friday, however, are extraordinarily rare.

“I went to see what that flash in the sky was about,” recalled resident Marat Lobkovsky. “And then the window glass shattered, bouncing back on me. My beard was cut open, but not deep. They patched me up. It’s OK now.” ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/meteor-explodes-over-russias-ural-mountains-1100-injured-as-shock-wave-blows-in-windows/2013/02/15/339ac06c-779a-11e2-b102-948929030e64_story.html

[G_j]

84. The shock wave blew in an estimated 100,000 square meters (more than 1 million square feet) of glass

"The shock wave blew in an estimated 100,000 square meters (more than 1 million square feet) of glass, according to city officials, who said 3,000 buildings in the city were damaged. At one zinc factory, part of the roof collapsed."

Woah

[hedgehog]

86. Looking at the videos, it's amazing how many people just went on about their business -

it may be the start of an alien invasion, but I got to get to work on time! I don't think I've seen dash cam footage from anyone who pulled over!

There are pedestrians in the background of some videos who don't react at all to the bright light!


BTW - maybe someone else explained it up thread, but apparently lots of Russians have dash cams as insurance against scam artists faking accidents.

[auburngrad82]

89. I'm amazed at the number of people in Russia with dash cams

Grist.org has a bunch of videos from dash cams. Fascinating stuff, kind of scary, but amazingly well caught on video because everybody and their comrade seems to have a dash cam in Russia.

I'd get one but the only thing I ever see are deer crossing the road in front of me.

[uppityperson]

93. My husband said it is for insurance companies since there have been too many false claims or rather

people jump out in front of a car, get hit and then claim it wasn't their fault and collect money.

[thelordofhell]

94. Everybody has dashcams in Russia because there are very few police on the roads

[AntiFascist]

101. Chelyabinsk-70 was a top-secret city conducting nuclear research during the Soviet Era...

I imagine there are plenty of KGB still driving around. One of the dashcams showed someone driving into a gated facility with armed guards.

[countryjake]

102. I'd really love to know what she said to the gatekeeper here...

[Edim]

110. "What was it, you don't know?" nt

[countryjake]

116. Thanks for the translation!

I think I've figured out a few saying "oh my god" or something similar, on some of the other videos, but this gal sounded much more serious.

[Posteritatis]

98. We're only seeing the ones that got uploaded to Youtube too, remember. (nt)

[countryjake]

99. I've just posted equal amazement further up the thread, ha!

How they could see something like that, coming right at them, but not get off the road?

I have seen a couple of vids where the driver passes some cars and a truck who are over on the berm.

[SirRevolutionary]

103. The video will be a helpful aid for Bill Nye in showing the Faux Newscasters some science

Asteroid go BOOM asteroid bad!

[toddmiller]

107. Not a Crash and Not a Meteorite

Science Grammar Police (sorry): A ten ton meteor (largest in over a century) exploded above Russia into three large fragments that hit the ground. The fragments that hit the ground are called meteorites. Three large meteorites have been found (see above link). Also, the link explains why it was unrelated to 2012 DA14 (because 1,000,000 miles away and wrong direction). A shock wave from the blast blew out windows that so far caused over 1,200 juries and damaged over 3,000 buildings.

[Odin2005]

111. Probably a "rubble-pile" type asteroid that broke up before it entered the atmosphere.

Many asteroids are not solid objects, but a pile of boulders, gravel, and dust held together by their feeble gravity. When the object got inside the Earth's "Roche radius", Earth's gravity broke up the asteroid and thus you had a bunch of separate rocks coming in.