NASA says meteor shook buildings, created sonic boom in US and Canada

A meteor that whizzed past the atmosphere at 42,000 miles per hour on Wednesday jolted the building structures across several counties in the United States and the UK, according to eyewitnesses, NASA said. Observed at 7:47PM EST on March 10, the rock likely a fragment of an asteroid, built immense pressure at about 30 miles up shaking the residential buildings as it fragmented violently producing a pressure wave, NASA informed in a Facebook update, sharing the infrasound measurement.

As the meteor diffused, lowering its trajectory from 19 kilometers per second, it formed a vacuum due to which the rock fragmented with loud noise in space, sending minor "tremors" that were picked by NASA’s seismic instruments. Several people in the vicinity of the explosion felt  the medium frequency impact. The meteorite fragmented in the skies over Vermont. It was observed by skywatchers at about 52 miles above Mount Mansfield State Forest by the US residents, and appeared to diminish above Orleans County, approximately 33 miles in the sky as it penetrated deeper in the upper atmosphere.  

"The space rock fragmented violently, producing a pressure wave that rattled buildings and generated the sound heard by those near the trajectory," NASA said. “A nice little firework, courtesy of Mother Nature."

Residents narrate experience

Residents from northern Vermont, New Hampshire and on the Canadian side of the border in Quebec commented that they had heard the ‘thud’ sound that resembled a sonic boom. Many others on the Canadian side said that their houses shook, as the meteor exceeded its structural strength and exploded, as per NASA. 

“I seen this through my car windshield while driving home from my sisters in StAlbans VT. I thought it was a Missle,” a commenter said. “I saw it from my window in Colchester looking east over Mt Mansfield. Heard the sonic boom what I thought was 90 seconds later but could be off on that. It was super bright white and broke up into a few pieces,” another said. “I heard the rumble in North Cambridge, thought it might be the F35s going over again,” one other stated. Meanwhile another explained, “We heard a sonic boom followed by a dwindling rumble come from north by north east from here in the north east corner of Bristol.”