The Chelyabinsk strewn field
The airburst that shattered windows across a city, then scattered thousands of small stones and one giant into a frozen lake.
Key facts
- Fell
- 15 February 2013, about 9.20 in the morning
- Where
- Chelyabinsk region, southern Urals, Russia
- Recovered
- roughly a tonne, most of it one mass from Lake Chebarkul
- Field
- a long band of stones south-west of Chelyabinsk
- Type
- Ordinary chondrite, LL5
The fall
An asteroid about 18 metres across and weighing roughly 12,000 tonnes entered at about 19 kilometres per second on a shallow path and exploded about 30 kilometres up. The shock wave broke windows across the city and injured about 1,500 people, mostly with flying glass.
The ellipse
Because the asteroid travelled at a shallow angle, its fragments were spread along a long band of countryside south-west of the city, crossing villages and snowy fields. Each stone left a small hole in the snow, and many were found by following these holes.
Where the big and small pieces landed
Mass sorting showed clearly. Thousands of small stones, from a few grams to a few kilograms, were picked up from the snow in villages along the track. The biggest piece carried furthest, punching a hole about 7 metres wide in the ice of Lake Chebarkul, roughly 70 kilometres west of the city. Divers raised it in October 2013; it weighs well over 500 kilograms and is displayed in Chelyabinsk.
The law
Russia has no law written for meteorites. Residents collected and sold stones, and police treated genuine meteorites as legitimate finds. Exports must be declared truthfully to customs.
Related pages
Glossary: Strewn field, Strewn field map, Fusion crust, Meteorite ownership