Russian meteor blast injures at least 1,000 people (3000 damaged buildings)-VIDEO-

CNN.com ^ | 2/15/2013 | Phil Black, Boriana Milanova and Laura Smith-Spark

[dragnet2]

Moscow (CNN) -- A meteor streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region Friday morning, before exploding with a flash and boom that shattered glass in buildings and left about 1,000 people hurt

The number of injured has continued to rise through the day as new reports come in from across a swath of central Russia.

Most of those hurt are in the Chelyabinsk region, the news agency said. The vast majority of injuries are not thought to be serious.

About 3,000 buildings have sustained damage -- mostly broken glass -- as a result of the shock waves caused by the blast

About 20,000 emergency response workers have been mobilized

Amateur video footage showed a bright white streak moving rapidly across the sky, before exploding with an even brighter flash and a deafening bang.

The explosion occurred about 9:20 a.m. local time, as many people were out and about.

One large chunk was discovered in a lake in the Chelyabinsk region, RIA Novosti cited the Chelyabinsk governor as saying.

[Eva]

Some on the left have actually advocated some such tragedy to reduce the world population.

It is a good reason not to let Obama and Kerry get rid of the US arsenal, isn’t it?

The article that I read on Drudge, this morning, said that the Russians had used a missile on the meteor, is that not correct?

[Strategerist]

Astronomers chronically downplay the hazard of meteor and comet impact on Earth for one simple reason.

1) No they don't. They generally constantly try to highlight the hazard, not downplay it. Do you ever read actual science journals? Watch Science channel documentaries? Of course, if any natural scientist DOES highlight a given hazard, then people on FR savagely attack them for "just trying to get more money."

What they DO downplay is the hazard of specific asteroids with well-calculated orbits that miss the Earth, when kooknutter sites claim otherwise.

2) Stop getting your science knowledge from kook websites and bad movies. Of the many potential methods to try to divert an incoming asteroid, nuking them is one of the dumber ones.

[Eva]

You’re in Russia? Oh well, when we first moved to CA, we used to joke about the level of construction there, as well. We used to say that the houses were cheaply constructed so that if an earthquake struck nearby, it wouldn’t hurt as much if the house caved in.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

On the CNN International Edition, it’s the top story along with a story, “How Can We Combat Space Menace?” The Oscar Pistorius story is distinctly second place. On idnes.cz, a major Czech news site, it’s also the top story.

I guess for the American media, it’s no biggie.

[Strategerist]

The article that I read on Drudge, this morning, said that the Russians had used a missile on the meteor, is that not correct?

It's not correct. Completely silly and physically impossible. And there's no need for a missile to explain anything; meteors routinely blow up on their own in the atmosphere.

[crazydad]

She hasn’t posted any new threads. HMM Very interesting?

[AnAmericanAbroad]

No, Czech Republic, near the Polish border. Those apartment blocks, called paneláký by the locals here, are ubiquitous throughout the former East Bloc. Berlin, especially the former DDR parts of it, is chock-full of them. There's tons of them on the outskirts of Prague. They're called sidlíště, housing estates. They cater to everyone on the socio-economic spectrum; lots of middle-class folks live in them. I even know a well-off fellow who lives in one. They may look like hell on the outside, but you can do a lot with 'em on the inside.

[Cold Heart]

FOX covered it, videos included. Also the asteroid with scientist commentary for both.

[LibertyOh]

It’s taking a little while to figure a way to blame it on Bush and Global Warming. But some lib ultimately will go there.

[dragnet2]

You seen this?

Dramatic CCTV: Meteorite blast wave blows out doors, windows in Russia.

Caught on video, watch what the shock wave does to this door and office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1kvHl5Qcnzc

[ponygirl]

Oh, yeah, she posted. I checked her Ning site. She claims that the Russians did send a missile and explode the meteor. That Planet X is still hiding behind the sun (um, don't we rotate around the sun and would see it at some point in the year?) and its "tail" is throwing objects at the Earth. The Zetas told her so. And that somehow, Obama is going to save the day.

Man, she's a nutter.

[GOPJ]

I’m surprised this isn’t bigger news than it is. Something like this happens only once in a lifetime. And this is certainly the first time I can recall of a meteor airbust causing such widespread injuries and structural damage.

The MSM is sooooo thin - in quality and old fashioned brain power...

How can an asteroid compare to Rubio drinking a glass of water? On national TV of all things? THAT was NEWS.

Or black gang members killing people on Chicago's South Side? The Chicago story's news - NEWS - it's not like black gang members were killing each last week. Or last month. Or last year... or for the past 40 years...

I lived in Chicago's Hyde Park years ago - a girl was killed on my block by a black gang member... she was 15... I was two years older... I've shared that story with my grandkids - which might give you some idea how long this madness has been going on... and how lame the liberal solutions have been.

[ponygirl]

I was in Prague for three months during college - 1991. They put us in the ugliest cell-block dormitory I had ever seen. The rooms were so small that I could lay in my little bed, reach an arm across and touch my roommate in her bed. (Not that I did that, mind you. But I could have!) But the hallways were big enough to drive a Panzer tank through.

But the city...ahhh! The Prague is the most beautiful city in the world.

I also remember going into Prague castle and seeing these extraordinary, ornate ballrooms with beautiful murals, gold leaf ceilings, crystal chandeliers...and the Communists had filled them with auditorium seating made of ugly, blocky chairs covered with filthy beige vinyl. Talk about a contrast.

[ansel12]

Duck and Cover works.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Heh. Sometimes the contrasts can be striking indeed.

My city is a former steel-mill town, now with one steel mill left. The other big has switched over to heavy industrial production and manufacturing. Once you get out of the very epicenter of the town, it’s pretty much either standard-issue concrete blocks of flats or horrifically run-down First Republic building that have definitely seen better days.

Prague is indeed a beautiful city. It’s become far more “touristy” than it was in 1991, I’m sure. It’s why I don’t live there anymore.

‘The Prague’....nice reference to the way a lot of the locals here inadvertently refer to it as in English. :) My ex-wife used to do it all the time; “I was in The Prague today at ——”.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Thirty years ago, this would’ve been big news in the American media. It would likely have been the lead story in the networks’ World News Tonight shows.

Nowadays, apparently, not so much.

[Hugh the Scot]

As our local expert on all things scientific and atmospheric, how much does it bother you to be wrong about this being “impossible”?

[dragnet2]

Caught on video, watch what the shock wave does to this door and office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1kvHl5Qcnzc

“Duck and Cover works”

Ya mean duck and cower...There was no time...These two only had time to soil their undies.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

I finally got an e-mail from my teaching colleague in Chelyabinsk. She’s OK, thankfully. No problems, but she said when she heard the explosion, she damned near soiled herself.

The sound of the explosion and breaking glass everywhere was quite an experience, she wrote. Scary as hell. She said for a quick second, she honestly thought it was a nuclear attack - she was waiting for the fireball to consume her and everyone else.

[dragnet2]

She wasn’t alone. From what we are reading, lots of people over there thought they it was a nuke.