Tunguska event — powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River
The largest recorded impact event in Earth's history, capable of destroying a major city, caused by an asteroid air burst over Siberia in 1908.
Key Facts
- Explosion yield
- 3–50 megatons TNT equivalent megatons
- Area of forest felled
- 2,150 km² km²
- Asteroid diameter
- 50–60 metres metres
- Asteroid speed
- ~27 km/s (Mach 80) km/s
- Explosion altitude
- 5–10 kilometres above surface km
- Estimated casualties
- Up to 3 people
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A stony asteroid approximately 50–60 metres wide entered Earth's atmosphere from the east-south-east at roughly 27 km/s. The intense pressure and heat of atmospheric entry caused the object to disintegrate and explode before reaching the ground, producing a massive air burst over the sparsely populated East Siberian taiga.
On the morning of 30 June 1908, an enormous explosion equivalent to between 3 and 50 megatons of TNT detonated at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometres above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia. The blast left no impact crater but released energy sufficient to flatten over 2,150 km² of forest.
The explosion felled trees across roughly 2,150 km² of forest and eyewitness accounts suggest up to three people may have died. Because the region was so remote, the full scale of destruction was not scientifically surveyed for years. The event remains the largest recorded impact in human history and is used as a benchmark for evaluating the destructive potential of asteroid strikes on populated areas.