The Curuçá event, 1930
The 'Brazilian Tunguska': a jungle explosion known mostly from one written account.
This page describes a scientific hypothesis that is still argued over. It sets out the case for it, the case against, and where the evidence stands today.
Key facts
- When
- 13 August 1930
- Where
- Near the Curuçá river, Amazonas, Brazil
- What hit
- unknown
- Era
- Witnessed, 1908 to 1999
Unknown. Some have suggested up to about 100 kilotons, but there is no firm measurement.
Possibly a smaller cousin of Tunguska, if it happened as described.
What happened
In 1930 a missionary in the far western Amazon wrote an account of an event reported by people living along the Curuçá river: on the morning of 13 August the sun seemed to turn blood red, there was a whistling noise, fireballs fell and three explosions shook the ground, followed by falling ash.
The story was published in a Vatican newspaper and later in a London newspaper, then largely forgotten until astronomers rediscovered it in the 1990s. They noted that the date fell during the Perseid meteor shower, and suggested a large object had broken apart over the forest.
A roughly circular feature about 1 km across has since been spotted in satellite images of the area, but no one has shown it is a crater, and it may be much older.
Effects
Witnesses described the falling of a fine ash and the sound of explosions over a large area. No flattened forest has been documented.
The evidence
Mainly the written account, plus a possible seismic signal recorded in South America that some researchers have linked to the event. Without physical evidence, the Curuçá event is best treated as possible but unconfirmed.
Did you know?
The region is so remote that even today it is hard to survey on the ground.
Several other 'little Tunguskas' have been proposed from historical accounts, and most remain unproven.
Related pages
How is impact energy measured? See energy explained, or try the impact calculator.