CHELYABINSK ,Russia — A meteorite (陨石)moved quickly across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Feb. 15,2013, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.
People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave, according to a Reuters journalist in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.
The fireball, travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second according to Russian space agency Roscosmos , had blazed (燃烧)across the horizon, leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away.
Car alarms went off ,thousands of windows were broken and mobile phone networks were interrupted for a short time. The Interior Ministry said the meteorite explosion, A VERY RARE SPECTACLE, ALSO released A GREAT EXPLOSIVE SOUND.
"I was driving to work. It was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day.” said Viktor Prokofiev、36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.
"1 felt like 1 was blinded by headlights/'
The meteorite, which weighed about 10 tonnes and may have been made of iron, entered Earth's atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km (19-31 miles) above ground ACCORDING TO RUSSIA’S ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,
The energy released when it entered the Earth’s atmosphere was equal to a few kilo tonne s. the academy said. the power of a small atomic weapon exploding.
No deaths were reported but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to Urals Region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease and help the victims.
The Interior Ministry said about 1,200 people had been injured ,at least 200 of them children, and most from broken pieces of glass.