A meteor that struck Russia Friday morning has so far injured more than 1,000 people, various reports state.
The Ural Mountains, located in Chelybinsk region, were sprayed with almost 10 tons of the matter. The Russian Academy of Sciences noted it entered the atmosphere at 33,000 mph and broke apart 18 to 32 miles above the ground.
One amateur video recorded the thick trails of smoke left behind, many residents were shocked to find an object in the sky speeding at 9:20 a.m. (Russian time). Residents heard loud thunder and felt shakes from within and outside their homes.
CBS News reported a zinc factory that spanned a 6,000 square-foot roof collapsed, the Emergency Ministry did not conclude whether it was the result of the shock wave or the falling fragments. The city officials also added 3,000 buildings were damaged from the shock wave, reported the Washington Post.
"There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people's houses to check if they were OK," said Sergey Hametov, a Chelyabinsk resident to the Associated Press. "We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound."
Some parts of meteor trailed off and dented a 20-foot-wide crater into another town, Cherbakul, according to the regions governor's office. The object actual size before it created a massive shower has yet to be verified.
The Post reported another record-holding fragment exploded 3,000 miles west of this incident in 1908, and that was estimated to weight 10 megatons and destroyed 80 million trees.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was reportedly speaking at a forum in Krasnoyarsk in which he said, "not only the economy is vulnerable, but the whole planet," reported the Post.
