On June 30, 1908, a tremendous explosion occurred over a remote part of Siberia in Russia. It was equivalent to a 20-megaton explosion. It was 1,000 times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The area was called Tunguska and it was so off the beaten path that the site was not investigated until 1927 when scientist Leonid Kulik visited. He estimated the area destroyed was 800 square miles. 80 million trees were killed. It is possible that 3 people died. There was no impact crater that would have been left by a meteor. Today, the theory is that it was caused by a large asteroid that was 160-200 feet wide. It exploded 3-6 miles up. If it had exploded over a populated area like a big city, the effect would have been catastrophic. Or will be.
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