A soldier checks the site where supposedly a meteorite fell. / G. M. (AFP)
A meteorite fell on a Saturday night unpopulated area north of Managua in Nicaragua. Geologists and astronomers have said that could be a “piece” of the asteroid that fell 2014RC, happened at the same hours of the incident at about 40,000 miles from Earth.
The meteorite opened a crater about 12 meters in diameter and 5.5 meters deep, and had a penchant input or direction 50 degrees west northwest, said geologist William Martinez. “On the walls you could see signs of mirror, when passing the meteorite crater walls rubbing that goes by,” said the expert.
The Nicaraguan daily The Press reports that residents of the capital heard an explosion and felt like an earthquake. The event took place at about 23.04 on Saturday local time (6.04 GMT on Sunday). “We agreed that it was a meteor,” said the expert in this area of the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INET), Wilfried Strauch, adding that there was no flash to warn of the fall of the fireball, as did occur in 1997, . when another meteorite fell in the western part of the country
Aerial view of where the meteorite supposedly fell in Managua. / p
A strong smell of gunpowder and a wave that exceeded the sound barrier also pointed to a meteorite, scientists from INET. The fireball hit an uninhabited area of Managua, but close to a military base west of the international airport in the capital. “We have to conclude that [the meteorite] fell in an area where, thank God, did not cause any danger to the public,” said José Millán, the INET.
Strauch, meanwhile, explained that have not yet been able to determine the composition of the fireball as it is not yet clear whether disintegrated when it hit the ground or still buried. Nicaraguan authorities seek support from scientists in the United States and other countries to determine the size and composition of the meteorite.
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