Tunguska event: Quick Facts


Facts

Date June 30, 1908
Location Podkamennaya Tunguska River • Russia • Siberia

Did You Know?

  • Hundreds of reindeer were killed in the blast, along with eighty million trees.
  • Various scientists have suggested that a comet, a nuclear explosion, or a black hole caused the event.
  • At the time of the explosion, seismographs in western Europe recorded seismic waves from the blast.
  • Eyewitnesses were sometimes hesitant to share their stories because they believed the explosion was caused by the god Ogdy cursing the area.
  • The energy of the explosion is estimated to have been equivalent to that of about 15 megatons of TNT, a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb.
  • Eyewitnesses who observed the event from a distance spoke of a fireball lighting the horizon, followed by trembling ground and hot winds strong enough to throw people down and shake buildings as in an earthquake.

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