Slava Voynov’s hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia was the site of a rare and frightening cosmic event Friday morning as a 10-ton bolide exploded roughly 20 to 30 miles above the surface of the Earth, according to scientists, causing a shockwave in the region that shattered glass, blew doors off buildings and injured over 1,000 people.
Those close to Voynov – like many in the city located east of the Ural Mountains near the border between Europe and Asia – suffered cosmetic damage to their homes.
“I called my friends and asked what happened,” Voynov said, noting that he found out about the incident Thursday night and was on the phone with those in Chelyabinsk 10 minutes after the event occurred.
“Nobody knew what was going on. People are OK, just a lot of damage from buildings. Glasses, doors, everything broke…In the whole city – no glass.”
None of Voynov’s friends or family witnessed the actual event, though because of the prevalence of dashboard-mounted cameras on cars in the city, video coverage of the streaking cosmic debris is widespread.
“Just looking on the internet, [they] saw video. My friends just felt it,” Voynov said.
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