Shocking simulations shows how asteroid that might strike Earth could destroy cities
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: Andrzej Wojcicki/Science Photo Library/Getty Images
An incredible simulation has shown exactly what would happen if a 'city killer' asteroid was to hit Earth.
That's right, a space rock the size of the Statue of Liberty is heading for our planet, although there's only a 2.3 percent chance of it colliding with us.
But when you hear that that probability has almost doubled from 1.2 percent in the space of a month, well... that is pretty worrying.
NASA's Planetary Defense details Asteroid 2024 YR4 as 'currently' measuring an estimated '130-300 feet across' - so up to 90 meters.
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And it could impact our planet at a high velocity, of roughly 17 kilometres per second - or about 38,000 mph - the space agency warned.
Now, a simulation allows you to see what would happen if it smashed into any city in the entire world.
And the results are pretty terrifying...
If the 90m asteroid hit Washington DC in the US at 17 km/s at a 45 degree angle, it would be pretty devastating...
When we tried the simulation website Asteroid Launcher, it told us the impact would create a 978km wide crater, roughly 208 meters deep.
Fourteen people would be vaporized in the process, and it only gets worse from then on out really.
The asteroid would trigger a 228 decibel shock wave - that's louder than standing next to a military jet during takeoff.
An estimated 13,395 people would die from this. Those who survive would be living with some grim consequences.
People within 2.2 km would likely receive lung damage, while those 2.9 km away would have their eardrums ruptured.
The website also claims buildings within 5km of the impact site would be destroyed.
The asteroid's windspeed would be even more deadly, though.
An estimated 90,469 people would die from the 2 km/s wind blast.
And wind within 1.5 km would be faster than the storms on Jupiter - you wouldn't like to be at the center of that now, would you?
Any homes within a 2.5 km radius would be completely leveled.
You can take a look out how the asteroid could destroy your own city here.
Coder Neil Agarwhal is the brains behind Asteroid Launcher. He 'based the app on several scientists’ academic work aimed at calculating the effects of an asteroid impact,' Space.com reports.
It's similar to Nukemap, designed by science historian Alex Wellerstein in 2012, which recreates the impacts of dropping a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world.