Pop Quiz Hotshot: Meteor Apocalypse

[allen_idaho]

How would you survive? The purpose of these posts is to see what you, the average PA fan, would plan to do if faced with an apocalyptic scenario.

Scenario: It is afternoon on an average Wednesday. You have just learned that in 3 months (90 days) , a large meteor half the size of Texas will slam into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The broadcast ends. Widespread panic has not immediately taken effect.

What do you do?

It can be anything. Be honest. There are no wrong answers. Try to survive? Cause chaos? Go wild?

[lycan360]

Enjoy life, live life like there's no tomorrow and do things that I'd never done before just to have the experience. Go out with a big **** eating grin on my face.

[allen_idaho]

Interesting choice.

[wa5]

Get into Flanders Bomb Shelter...

[SeeminglySquare]

My husband's parents have the perfect basement for this kind of thing and I'm pretty far away from the Pacific. I guess I would most likely make a trip to Sam's Club and stock up and enjoy the last 90+ days I have with my family. I would try to survive but mostly I would just hide away until things had settled down and then figure things out.

But before I go into hiding I would get some useful books and supplies for rebuilding somewhere safe.

[allen_idaho]

That is a pretty smart idea. Hunker down and stay safe. You would most likely not have to worry about the initial impact of the meteor in Indiana. But you major concern should be the harsh winter that follows.

Either a meteor impact or the eruption of a super volcano would theoretically have the side effect of blocking out the sun and causing temperatures to drop dramatically for anywhere from 1-3 years.

This means that even if you survive the initial impact, you run the extremely high risk of running out of food since nothing will be able to grow outside of hydroponics.

Another important factor with your area is population. The more people there are, the less food there is. The faster they go hungry and try to kill you for your supplies. Or simply so they can eat you.

You will also run the risk of freezing to death. Especially if power were to fail.

[scourgewriter]

Well, if it were half the size of Texas, I believe that would pretty much do in life as we know it. Something that big would liquify the surface according to the Discovery Channel shows. That makes the choice a lot easier really, because all you have to worry about are the next three months. The chaos brought about by the foreknowledge of Earth's demise would be the biggest issue. I would stop my 401K for starters, and I would likewise stop jogging relentlessly. I would also eat out everynight until the stores closed up in the encroaching panic. I believe pizza, TexMex and sushi would so me nice. You know, I'm beginning to like this meteor idea.

[allen_idaho]

In the event that the meteor strike is survivable, this is what I would do.

Three months may be enough time to build an functioning underground facility to withstand the initial blast, in my opinion. I live in a relatively rural area with a population of about 50,000 within the nearest 100 miles. This consists of a number of smaller towns with a few hundred to a few thousand people as well as one larger city with a population of around 30,000 just 20 miles away.

My first step would be to quell the initial panic in my area. That is the local farmers and primarily two smaller towns. I would outline my plan, explain what needs to be done, gather volunteers, and collect supplies.

My next step would be to begin digging. Blasting into a stone mountain would take too long. So my target area would be use one of the many clay hills near my home. With the use of the heavy machinery available in the area, digging to an acceptable depth should only take around 2 weeks at the most.

The volunteers would be ideally split into three groups. A day shift digging/building, a night shift digging/building, and a group constantly out collecting the necessary equipment and supplies.

Next, the building would begin. My plan would be to build a framework of honeycomb shaped rooms out of steel which would then be reinforced with concrete. These would be separated into living areas, utility areas, supply areas, a kitchen, etc. I estimate that this could take somewhere around 2 months depending on manpower.

When finished, the facility would need to be quickly recovered with clay. The entrance will need to be blasted shut and digging equipment will have to be kept inside for the eventual dig out.

The facility would only really need to be designed to keep us alive comfortably for at least 2 weeks to a month. This means we will need generators and a fuel supply, canned foods, several freezers full of food, water, a sewage system, and an air circulation system.

If there is time, it would also be good to have a herd of cattle and enough hay for one to two years.

This should be plenty of protection from the initial fireball which will scour the surface of the planet and then the possible tsunami to follow.

After the blast, it would be time to rebuild. Hopefully, enough supplies were collected to create a functioning solar power system and several hydroponic greenhouses. The possibility also exists that these will fail due to the harsh winter which will likely result from the meteor impact but at least we would be alive for the time being.

If we can stay alive for a few more years, it would be a long, hard road to rebuilding.

[wa5]

Screw Flanders shelter, I think I would hunker down in Allens' digs.

[donc48]

Size of Texas, Well there goes retirement.
Eat Drink and get laid, or try and get into Kelly Martins pants if she’s divorced if you felling board the link below leads to a Earth Effects program i.e. you can simulate your own end of the world if a rock hit the earth you can adjust of speed, size, type of rock your comet or asteroid impact. An example: your 200 miles from the point of impact, a projectile 70 miles in with will impact 1500/k^3 for porous rock at 40 km a sec at a 40 degree angle hitting Sedimentary Rock.

See link below.
Energy:
Energy before atmospheric entry: 8.98 x 1026 Joules = 2.15 x 1011 MegaTons TNT
The average interval between impacts of this size is longer than the Earth's age.
Such impacts could only occur during the accumulation of the Earth, between 4.5 and 4 billion years ago.
Major Global Changes:
The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.
The impact does not make a noticeable change in the Earth's rotation period or the tilt of its axis.
The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.
Crater Dimensions:
What does this mean?

Transient Crater Diameter: 472 km = 293 miles
Transient Crater Depth: 167 km = 104 miles

Final Crater Diameter: 1060 km = 657 miles
Final Crater Depth: 2.41 km = 1.49 miles
The crater formed is a complex crater.
The volume of the target melted or vaporized is 5.14e+06 km3 = 1.23e+06 miles3
Roughly half the melt remains in the crater , where its average thickness is 29.3 km = 18.2 miles
Thermal Radiation:
What does this mean?

Time for maximum radiation: 48.2 seconds after impact

Your position is inside the fireball.
The fireball appears 1360 times larger than the sun
Thermal Exposure: 4.11 x 1012 Joules/m2
Duration of Irradiation: 25100 seconds
Radiant flux (relative to the sun): 164000

Effects of Thermal Radiation:

Clothing ignites

Much of the body suffers third degree burns

Newspaper ignites

Plywood flames

Deciduous trees ignite

Grass ignites

Seismic Effects:
What does this mean?


The major seismic shaking will arrive at approximately 64.4 seconds.
Richter Scale Magnitude: 12.2 (This is greater than any earthquake in recorded history)
Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 322 km:
X. Most masonry and frame structures destroyed with their foundations. Some well-built wooden structures and bridges destroyed. Serious damage to dams, dikes, embankments. Large landslides. Water thrown on banks of canals, rivers, lakes, etc. Sand and mud shifted horizontally on beaches and flat land. Rails bent slightly.

XI. As X. Rails bent greatly. Underground pipelines completely out of service.

XII. As X. Damage nearly total. Large rock masses displaced. Lines of sight and level distorted. Objects thrown into the air.

Ejecta:
What does this mean?


The ejecta will arrive approximately 264 seconds after the impact.
Your position is beneath the continuous ejecta deposit.
Average Ejecta Thickness: 13300 m = 43700 ft

Air Blast:
What does this mean?


The air blast will arrive at approximately 976 seconds.
Peak Overpressure: 5.42e+08 Pa = 5420 bars = 76900 psi
Max wind velocity: 18700 m/s = 41900 mph
Sound Intensity: 175 dB (Dangerously Loud)
Damage Description:

Multistory wall-bearing buildings will collapse.

Wood frame buildings will almost completely collapse.

Multistory steel-framed office-type buildings will suffer extreme frame distortion, incipient collapse.

Highway truss bridges will collapse.

Highway girder bridges will collapse.

Glass windows will shatter.

Cars and trucks will be largely displaced and grossly distorted and will require rebuilding before use.

Up to 90 percent of trees blown down; remainder stripped of branches and leaves.

Yeah it pretty cool
enjoy



http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/