A massive explosion flattened a Siberian forest
On this day · 30 June 1908
On June 30, 1908, an asteroid burst in the sky over Siberia and knocked down an estimated 80 million trees.
Early on June 30, 1908, an object roughly 50 to 60 meters across plunged into the atmosphere and detonated several miles above the Tunguska River region of Siberia. The airburst released energy estimated at up to 15 megatons of TNT — hundreds of times the Hiroshima bomb.
The shockwave flattened trees across about 830 square miles (2,150 square kilometers), toppling an estimated 80 million of them in a vast radial pattern pointing away from the blast. Reindeer herders reported a blinding flash, a fireball, a thunderclap, and a hot wind strong enough to throw people to the ground.
Because the area was so remote, almost no one was hurt. Most scientists now attribute the blast to a stony asteroid exploding in midair rather than striking the ground, which is why no large crater was ever found.
In 2016 the United Nations named June 30 International Asteroid Day, a nod to the day the sky exploded over Siberia.
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