The NASA has estimated that the energy released by the meteor’s impact with the atmosphere was 500 kilotonnes, around 30 times the force of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The meteor which caused havoc Chelyabinsk in entered the atmosphere and broke up at an altitude of around 32 miles, causing a shockwave that blew out windows and set off car alarms in the Russian town two and a half minutes later.

Members of the Chelyabinsk region police department stand near a six-metre hole in a frozen lake, reportedly the site of a meteor fall. afp photo