2007-10-31 04:55:30 · 12 answers · asked by curious_inquisitor 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It depends on how big the asteroid was. If it was less than a mile wide, they would not notice anything, at least not immediately. A one mile impact might be enough to make noticeable changes in clouds for some time, like the eruption of Krakatoa did.
But if it were bigger, say 10 or 20 miles wide, there is speculation that it could cause enough atmospheric disturbance to plunge the world into an ice age.
And if it were REALLY big, like Ceres or one of the big named asteroids which is hundreds of miles wide, it would probably shake the whole planet enough to be felt anywhere and the atmosphere would probably be destroyed, obliterating all life on Earth. Lucky for us no asteroid that big has any chance of ever hitting Earth. All the asteroids that big are in stable orbits far from Earth just like the other planets are. They have no more chance of hitting Earth than Mars does, which is to say, zero chance.
2007-10-31 06:51:02 · answer #1 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They might experience massive earthquakes. The shock waves from the impact would travel away from the impact site as ripples in a pond. But as the earth is round the ripples would merge again on the exact opposite side of the planet. If you drop a pebble in the center of a water filled bucket you see the effect. The ripples from the pebble goes off to the side of the bucket where they are reflected. As the ripples meet in the middle you get the splash in "reverse". So if the asteroid impact is big enough the shock waves could cause the earths crust to completely shatter on the exact opposite side of the planet with catastrophic earthquakes and volcanism as a result. We can see evidence of this on Mercury and even earth. There is a place in India called the Deccan traps. They are the result of massive volcanism that began about 65 million years ago. Also there is evidence of a massive asteroid impact in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico at around the same time. As India was its own continent back then we can calculate that It was actually on the exact opposite side from Yucatan 65 million years ago. Circumstantial evidence for sure but a little too extreme a coincident.
2007-10-31 13:56:35 · answer #2 · answered by DrAnders_pHd 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the size of the asteroid. Let's assume you mean 1-5 mile size. The other side would have fairly immediate weather changes. The planet will be covered in dark clouds, there would be massive tsunamis on coastal regions, massive earthquakes all over, and for the most part total annihilation of animal and plant life. If anyone did survive within a week or two it would start getting real tough to find uncontaminated food. It would be like jumping into a time machine about 200,000 years into the past.
2007-10-31 12:14:39 · answer #3 · answered by paul s 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're obviously talking about a major impact; If it's big enough - say, a rock 5 to 10 miles in diameter, they'd feel the impact through ground tremors, probably and hour to two hours later.
Debris from the impact would probably encircle the globe, throwing lava rocks onto virtually every point on the Earth, within 90 minutes. The atmosphere would heat from the many, many tons of burning rock, and fires would probably spontaneously light.
It wouldn't be a lot of fun...
2007-10-31 12:22:18 · answer #4 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Take a look at Mars the Noctis Labyrinthus area and the Tharsis Bulge are on the opposite side from the Hellas Basin.
This could have come from a heavy impactor billions of years ago.....
2007-10-31 15:04:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
depending on the mass of the object that impacted earth, probably nothing. Eventually a dust cloud/ smoke would make it's way around the earth. This can be seen today, with the smoke from the fires in California traversing the US.
2007-10-31 11:59:39 · answer #6 · answered by ascud2000 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, it all depends on the size (since meteorites strike earth all the time).
People on the other side might not ever notice (people on the SAME side might not notice if it's small enough), or it could destroy the planet if it's big enough.
2007-10-31 12:00:19 · answer #7 · answered by Brian L 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Probably nothing. The earth has a liquid metal core that would absorb most of the impact.
2007-10-31 12:00:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
huge earthquakes.
the poeple on the side of the asteriod will die by fire.
and the people on the other side will de by earthquakes and dust storms..
2007-10-31 12:16:37 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Seismic shock, then the blast wave.
2007-10-31 15:47:21 · answer #10 · answered by Irv S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋