[meteorite-list] Torino Scale

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:10 2004
Message-ID: <3D404766.C799D0A2_at_lehrer.uni-karlsruhe.de>

Walter wrote:

> how large does an object have to be for it not to vaporize
> completely upon plunging through Earth's atmosphere, i.e.,
> for there to be anything sizeable left to cause wide destruction
> once it hits the ground (or water)?

Hello Again,

According to G. Verschuur, the consequences may be something like:

Very Large (>10 km) - Global - Mass extinctions
Large (2-10 km) - Global - Some extinctions
Medium (0.2-2 km) - Regional - Threat to civilisation
Small (30-200 m) - Local - Severe
Very Small (10-30 m) - Local - Minor

If a really big one hit the Earth, as big as the the impactor that
killed the dinosaurs (10-15 km), its destructive force and the conse-
quences would be horrifying. It would hit us with the force of about
100 million megatons of TNT - this is more than 10,000 times the entire
arsenal of nuclear weapons. If it plunged into an ocean, there would be
tsunamis hundreds of feet high. House-sized chunks of rock would be
tossed hundreds of miles and our atmosphere would be saturated with
dust for years.


Best regards,

Bernd
Received on Thu 25 Jul 2002 02:45:58 PM PDT