[meteorite-list] Russian Meteor Shook Ground Like An Earthquake

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.space.com/19816-russian-meteor-earthquake-signal.html

Russian Meteor Shook Ground Like An Earthquake
By Becky Oskin
space.com
February 15, 2013

A meteor explosion in the skies above Russia this morning also walloped 
the Earth, triggering shaking as strong as an earthquake, the U.S. 
Geological Survey (USGS) reports.

Today's early morning blast, centered on the Chelyabinsk region, sent 
massive tremors through the ground, which were recorded on seismic 
monitoring instruments around the world.

Initial reports pegged the explosion as similar to a magnitude 2.7 shaker, 
according a seismograph released by the USGS. For comparison, the 1908 
Tunguska meteor blast's shock waves, which flattened 80 million trees in 
Siberia, produced the equivalent of an estimated 5.0 temblor.


"When you have an explosion in the air, it shakes the ground, and we see 
it on the seismographs," explained Paul Caruso, a geophysicist at the USGS 
National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, Colo., which reported the 
meteor-related tremors. "It's not an earthquake, and it looks very different 
from the usual earthquake seismogram," he told OurAmazingPlanet.

Few meteor explosions have actually been recorded on seismographs, though, 
Caruso said. "We've been looking at it all morning," he added.

The meteor reportedly injured hundreds of people and damaged hundreds of 
buildings when it exploded in a massive blast Friday morning (Feb. 15).

Most of the injured were reportedly hurt by falling glass caused by the blast, 
and many have been hospitalized. In addition, an estimated 297 buildings 
suffered damage, including six hospitals and 12 schools, according to 
translations of updates by the Russian Emergency Ministry.

Scientists think a meteoroid entered the atmosphere above Russia's southern 
Chelyabinsk region, where it exploded and broke up into fragments scattered 
across three regions of Russia and Kazakhstan, according to news reports. 

The Russian meteor probably had nothing to do with the upcoming close Earth 
approach of asteroid 2013 DA14, which is due to make its closest approach to 
the Earth at 2:24 p.m. ET, Don Yeomans, head of NASA's Near-Earth Object 
Program, told SPACE.com. The Russian meteor's trail did not travel south to 
north as the asteroid will.