Carancas, 2007
A stony meteorite that, against expectations, blasted out a crater.
Key facts
- When
- 15 September 2007, just before midday local time
- Where
- Near Carancas, close to Lake Titicaca, Puno region, Peru
- What hit
- a stony meteoroid about 1 to 2 m across before entry
- Era
- The sensor age, 2000 onwards
- Location
- 16.66° S, 69.04° W
A few tonnes of TNT at the moment of impact, which was at about 2 to 4 km/s.
Like a few tonnes of explosive: tiny by impact standards, yet enough for a 13.5-metre crater.
What happened
On a September morning in 2007, villagers near Lake Titicaca, at about 3,800 m above sea level, saw a fireball and heard a huge bang. A crater about 13.5 m across had appeared in a dry stream bed, and it quickly filled with muddy groundwater.
This was a surprise to scientists. Stony meteoroids usually break up and slow down in the air, so the pieces fall gently. Carancas held together and struck the ground at a few kilometres per second. One reason may be the high altitude of the site: the meteoroid had less air to pass through before it hit.
The meteorite is an ordinary chondrite of type H4–5, and many fragments were collected from the crater and around it.
Effects
Some villagers reported headaches and nausea in the following days. Investigators found nothing toxic in the meteorite itself; strong smells from the hot, disturbed ground and the alarm of the moment are the most likely explanations.
The evidence
The fresh crater, the meteorite fragments, infrasound and seismic records of the impact, and eyewitness accounts.
Did you know?
Carancas was the first well-documented crater made by a stony meteorite.
Seismometers in Bolivia recorded the shock of the impact.
Related pages
How is impact energy measured? See energy explained, or try the impact calculator.