Want to destroy a city with an asteroid in a virtual simulation? Look no further! I just discovered one of the coolest web apps that one can find online. It’s called Asteroid Launcher and it does just as the title states, you get to launch asteroids anywhere on Earth! As you can see in the picture above, Seattle never had a chance. hahaha
What I find really neat is that the app also relays a ton of information about the impact. You can discover the size of the crater caused by the impact with information about how much energy would be released from the impact. The app also states how often an impact that size happens on the earth.
The app shares the size of the fireball that would explode out of the impact, who would be in the path, how many people it would effect, and even what would happen to the trees around the area. The 1000 foot asteroid I sent to Seattle would have created a 12 mile wide fireball. Now that is insane!
Next, the app states how far the shockwave would travel after impact. How many people would perish, where it would extend, and how many structures would collapse due to the shockwave. In the case of my Seattle asteroid, All building within 80 miles would collapse. Washington isn’t looking so hot at this point.
My Seattle asteroid would also cause wind speeds higher than an EF5 tornado, knocking down all the trees within 107 miles. So even though the crater is 7.4 miles wide, the damage around the crater would be substantial miles from the impact due to the fireball, shockwave, and winds.
And if all of that wasn’t enough to wipe half of Washington State off the map, their would be massive earthquakes caused by the impact. And if we are to believe the theory of “enough energy can cause other fault lines to shake”, this could be a devastating impact for the entire west coast as the Cascadia and the San Andreas faults shake. Yikes.
With all of this information, I think we can safely say, let’s not have a 1000 foot iron asteroid hit Seattle any time soon.
So how can you try this web app out? Simply head over to Asteroid Launcher and begin your journey. It is very easy to use and the information about the impact is fun to read and learn.
How to use Asteroid Launcher:
- Go to Asteroid Launcher
- Select the type of asteroid (Iron, stone, carbon, comet, or gold)
- Select place on the map you wish to destroy with an asteroid
- On the right, select the size, speed, and angle of impact by moving the black bars
- Be sure to zoom ot a bit to see the full scale of the impact
- Launch the Asteroid and watch the impact
