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International Asteroid Day

International Asteroid Day is a United Nations-recognized day observed each year at the international level during the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation. The goal of International Asteroid Day is to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazards.

The Tunguska explosion of June 30, 1908 knocked down some 80 million trees over an area of 2,150 square kilometres (830 sq mi); the shock wave from the blast would have measured about 5.0 on the Richter scale.

Chelyabinsk Impact Event, 2013:

On February 15, 2013, a near-Earth asteroid approximately 20 m (66 ft) in size, with a relative speed of about 19 kilometres per second, entered Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk in Russia. The meteor exploded, and outshone the Sun – the fireball was visible up to 100 km (62 mi) away. 1600 people were injured, primarily by flying glass, by the shock-wave from the blast. Several buildings also sustained varying amounts of damage.

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