At Least 500 People Injured During Meteor Shower in Central Russia
Posted on February 15, 2013
A meteor shower has injured at least 500 people in central Russia after sparking an explosion. There are reports of damage to at least six buildings and thousands of blown out windows. BBC News reports that the roof of a zinc factory collapsed. Below is a video of the meteor from Russia Today, followed by a video from CNN. Russia Today also has photos here. The same article on Russia Today makes the grandiose claim that a meteorite was intercepted by an air defense unit and blown to pieces, but this has not been verified.
Russia Today is now posting live updates about the meteorite here. The latest update says the Russian military has discovered a crater with a diameter of 6 meters.
Astronomers do not believe the meteor is linked to the asteroid expected to come within 17,150 miles of the Earth later today - see update below. Take a look:
Update: BBC News reports that scientists are downplaying a link between the Ural meteor and 2012 DA14, a near-Earth asteroid that will come within 17,150 miles (27,600 kilometers) of the Earth later today. Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, of the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, told the BBC that the Ural event is "is literally a cosmic coincidence, although a spectacular one."
The European Space Agency also tweeted that there is no link between the Russian meteor and 2012 DA14.
NASA has not yet made a statement about the Ural event, but NASA is monitoring 2012 DA14.
Update: NASA has tweeted, "Scientists say Russian meteorite unrelated to asteroid 2012 DA14: on very different paths. DA14 misses us today."