Scientists studied and ranked the most and least destructive effects of an asteroid striking Earth.
A recent study of simulated asteroid strikes looked into the seven results of hazardous asteroids and estimated which were the least destructive effects and which were the most destructive ones. The study looked at the percentage of deaths that would come from tsunamis, shock waves, wind blasts, heat, flying debris, cratering, and seismic shaking. It turns out that the most deadly effects are shock waves and wind. Seismic shaking caused the least damage.
Researchers have been hunting space rocks and studying ways to save Earth from a deadly asteroid strike for a long time. This particular study, published in Geophysical Research Letters in April, tried to grapple with the hazards that an asteroid strike would pose.
The New Study Ranked The Most And Least Destructive Effects Of An Asteroid Striking Earth
To do this, a team of scientists at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, simulated 50,000 asteroid strikes where the rocks were 50 to 1,300 feet wide. They picked these sizes because they thought these were the most likely to hit Earth.
When they analyzed the simulations, the scientists found that 60 percent of the deaths from an asteroid strike were from violent winds and shock waves acting together, with the fierce winds causing the most damage. Heat generated from the impact caused 30 percent of the deaths. Flying debris did kill people, but only accounted for 0.91 percent of the total mortality rate. Tsunamis killed many more: they took 8.9 percent of the total. The two least destructive effects by far were cratering, which caused 0.2 percent of the deaths, and seismic shaking, which caused 0.17 percent.
Flying debris did kill people, but only accounted for 0.91 percent of the total mortality rate. Tsunamis killed many more: they took 8.9 percent of the total value. The two least destructive effects by far were cratering, which caused 0.2 percent of the deaths, and seismic shaking, which caused 0.17 percent.
The researchers also found that asteroids were 10 times deadlier when they struck land than when they hit oceans.
This study of simulated asteroids tried to understand the threats imposed by asteroid strikes. It also meant to rate those effects by what percentage of the death toll they caused. Researchers now know that the most deadly effects are wind and shock waves, and they can make plans to defend lives accordingly.
“The likelihood of an asteroid impact is really low, but the consequences can be unimaginable.” This is according to Clemens M. Rumpf, the study lead.
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