Fairbanks array picks up infrasound from meteorite

March 4, 2013

Digital image of the Feb. 15 infrasound waveform created by the meteor. NASA event recap Reuters article Image courtesy of K. Arnoult.

The meteorite that impacted near Chelyabinsk, Russia, on Feb. 15 created infrasound that was picked up by the 153US array in Fairbanks. According to NASA, the meteor was larger than 49 feet before it entered Earth's atmosphere, and its estimated mass was roughly 10,000 tons. The energy released during the event was nearly 500 kilotons. Alaska sensors were the first to record the meteor event, more than 4,000 miles away from Chelyabinsk. The shock wave from the meteorites explosion in the atmosphere created significant damage and injured more than 1,000 people.

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