6 biggest asteroid strikes on Earth
They flattened forests, left massive craters and even killed the dinosaurs. Learn all about Earth’s hugest asteroid strikes.
Image: stock.adobe.com
In early 2025, an asteroid named 2024 YR4 hit the headlines when experts said it had up to a 3% chance of crashing into our planet.
The risk of that asteroid hitting us has now been downgraded. But the danger of asteroids reaching the Earth is never completely gone.
The past shows us just how destructive asteroid strikes can be. Join us at Sky HISTORY as we discover the biggest asteroid impacts the Earth has endured – and how serious the damage was.
1. Chicxulub
About 66 million years ago, something terrible happened to life on Earth. 80% of all animal species went extinct – including most of the dinosaurs.
Scientists believe the cause of all this was an asteroid that slammed into the Yucatán Peninsula near Chicxulub, Mexico.
The Chicxulub asteroid was between 10 and 15 kilometres in diameter. The crater it left was over 10 times that size – 150 to 200 kilometres in diameter.
This immense impact would have blasted so much dust and ash into the air that the sun’s light was partially blocked. Without light, plants died, and so did the creatures that fed on them.
What’s more, asteroids usually arrive on Earth as fireballs, and this one was no different. It would have potentially set large areas of land ablaze.
It’s easy to see how this asteroid had such an enormous effect on our planet.
2. Nadir
Interestingly, another asteroid struck the Earth in the same time period that saw the Chicxulub impact. Some think the two asteroids were originally part of the same object, which then broke apart before falling.
The Nadir impact crater, in the ocean southwest of Guinea in west Africa, is nine kilometres in diameter. The asteroid itself was probably about 500 metres in diameter.
Since the Nadir asteroid crashed into water, it would have caused an immense tsunami, with the wave rising to 800 metres high. That’s about the height of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.
3. Vredefort
The most ancient asteroid impact on our list occurred in Vredefort, South Africa, an astonishing two billion years ago.
The Vredefort asteroid was between 15 and 25 kilometres in diameter. It formed a huge impact crater between 250 and 300 kilometres in diameter – the largest one on Earth, as far as we know.
Vredefort’s impact happened so long ago that only single-celled lifeforms lived on our planet. We’ll never know exactly what happened to them.
But we can assume that the asteroid at Vredefort had an even greater effect on the Earth’s environment than the one at Chicxulub. The skies would have darkened with dust, and the world might have grown warmer for some time due to carbon dioxide that was released.
4. Barringer
Barringer Crater in Arizona, USA, is the youngest of our ancient asteroid craters. Dating back to 50,000 years in the past, the crater is a relatively small 1.2 kilometres in diameter. The asteroid that struck there was likely between 30 and 50 metres in diameter.
Still, even an asteroid of this size would have caused a shockwave as strong as a nuclear blast. We know it blew 175 million tons of rock out of the ground. It would have probably destroyed or badly harmed plants and creatures up to around 10 kilometres away.
5. Tunguska
One major asteroid event within human history happened in 1908. The asteroid arrived in Tunguska, Siberia, where few people lived. Otherwise, the death toll could have been far worse.
The Tunguska asteroid was probably about 40 metres in diameter. Unlike other asteroids we’ve discussed, it exploded about 10 kilometres from the ground, so it didn’t make a huge crater. But it did create a massive shockwave, flattening trees for around 2,150 square kilometres. For comparison, the entire county of Nottinghamshire is 2,160 square kilometres.
Nearer to the blast’s centre, houses were destroyed, reindeer killed, and people left unconscious.
As usual for asteroids, the Tunguska asteroid was on fire as it hurtled through our atmosphere. When it blew apart, it caused vast fires in the Siberian forest.
6. Chelyabinsk
The most recent asteroid event on our list happened in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. It’s also the smallest one on our list – only 20 metres in diameter.
As with Tunguska, the fiery asteroid blew apart while it was still in the air. Though it didn’t leave a crater, it did create a shockwave that could be measured around the world.
To the people of Chelyabinsk, the asteroid’s destruction was bright and incredibly loud, much like a bomb explosion. 1,500 people were injured in the blast, which damaged windows and structures at a cost of about £11 million.
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