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Managua (AFP) - A mysterious explosion that rocked Nicaragua's crowded capital Managua, creating a large crater, appears to have been caused by a small meteorite, officials said Sunday.Amazingly, in a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, the impact near the international airport did not cause any known injuries, but it did leave a crater measuring 12 meters (39 feet) across and was felt throughout the capital late on Saturday.Nicaraguan authorities believe it was a piece of the small asteroid dubbed "2014 RC," which passed very close to Earth on Sunday and was estimated by astronomers to be about 20 meters big, or the size of a house."We are convinced that this was a meteorite. We have seen the crater from the impact," said Wilfredo Strauss of the Seismic Institute.The meteorite appeared to have hurtled into a wooded area near the airport around midnight and the hit was so large that it registered on the instruments Strauss's organization uses to size up earthquakes."You can see two waves: first, a small seismic wave when the meteorite hit earth, and then another stronger one, which is the impact of the sound," he said.Government officials and experts visited the impact site on Sunday.One of them, William Martinez, said it was not yet clear if the meteorite burned up completely or if it had been blasted into the soil."You can see mirror-like spots on the sides of the crater from where the meteorite power-scraped the walls," Martinez said.
There is, apparently, now some doubt about the claims: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/Experts-cast-doubt-on-Nicaragua-meteorite-reports-5742311.php
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Topic: 'Meteorite' smashes into Nicaraguan capital (Read 392 times)
