[meteorite-list] Injured Russians Leave Hospital, Analysis of Meteorite Fragments Begins

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:33:10 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <201302222133.r1MLXA8v003475_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/world/europe/russia-meteor/index.html

Injured Russians leave hospital, analysis of meteorite fragments begins
By Laura Smith-Spark
CNN
February 22, 2013

(CNN) -- Twenty-five people were discharged from hospital Friday,
state media reported, a week after a meteor exploded in spectacular
fashion in the skies above Russia's Urals region, shattering glass in
thousands of buildings.

Eleven children were among the patients who went home Friday morning,
the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. More than 60 people were
hospitalized across the region, the local emergencies ministry said.

The total count for those hurt climbed in the days after the meteor's
arrival on February 15 to more than 1,500, according to RIA Novosti.
Most of the injuries were minor and caused by flying glass.

The Chelyabinsk region, the hardest-hit area, asked federal authorities
Monday for $16.6 million in aid, RIA Novosti said.

The total bill for the damage is estimated at 1 billion rubles ($33
million), with more than 4,000 buildings affected, many of them
apartment blocks. About 200,000 square meters (almost 240,000 square
yards) of glass were broken in total, authorities said.

Meanwhile, the first fragment of meteorite arrived in Moscow on Friday
for analysis, RIA Novosti reported.

About 50 small fragments have been found so far, the news agency
reported earlier this week, some in a crater in the Chelyabinsk region's
Lake Chebarkul.

Images taken soon after the meteor blast showed a hole in the ice
covering the lake where a chunk of meteorite was believed to have fallen.

Because the meteor exploded in a huge fireball in the atmosphere, the
fragments could be scattered over a huge area.

A couple of purported pieces of Chelyabinsk meteorite were advertised
for sale on the eBay online auction site Friday.

The national space agency, Roscosmos, said scientists believe one
meteoroid entered the atmosphere, where it burned and disintegrated into
fragments. Amateur video footage showed a bright white streak moving
rapidly across the sky before exploding with an even brighter flash and
a deafening bang.

According to NASA estimates, the meteor measured 55 feet (17 meters)
across and had a mass of 10,000 tons.

The space agency put the amount of energy released in the meteor's
explosion at nearly 500 kilotons. By comparison, the nuclear bomb the
United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 released an estimated 15
kilotons of energy.

The whole event, from the meteor's atmospheric entry to its
disintegration in the air above central Russia, took 32.5 seconds, NASA
said.

Residents told CNN of their shock as they saw, heard and felt the
awesome blast, and the chaos and confusion they witnessed in the moments
afterward, when no one knew what had happened.

Denis Kuznetsov, a 23-year-old historian from Chelyabinsk, told CNN via
e-mail of his experience.

At first there was a blinding flash lasting several seconds, which made
him want to shut his eyes. The light shone "like 10 suns," he said.
"This is no exaggeration."

Kuznetsov said he experienced what felt like "a push," as a sound wave
passed through his body. "For some seconds I simply stood," he said,
amid the sound of breaking glass.

Interior Minister Vladimir Puchkov told state news agency Itar-Tass this
week that he wanted to see scientists develop new technologies that
would allow such meteors to be spotted in advance.

"I believe that this emergency situation will push us towards generating
new resources, approaches and ideas in tackling this serious problem,"
he is quoted as saying.

The European Space Agency said that events of the magnitude of the
Chelyabinsk meteor blast "are expected once every several of tens to 100
years."

It calculates that the meteoroid burst and disintegrated about 15 to 20
kilometers (nine to 12 miles) above the ground.

"The terminal part of the explosion probably likely occurred almost
directly over Chelyabinsk," said Detlef Koschny, of the European Space
Agency. "This was perhaps the single greatest contributor to the blast
damage."
Received on Fri 22 Feb 2013 04:33:10 PM PST