NASA predicts potential 'city-killer' asteroid strike in 2032. How bad could it be and can we prevent it?
2024 YR4, is the size of the Statue of Liberty and carries the explosive force of multiple nuclear bombs. With the probability of impact rising, a newly released interactive map now shows exactly how devastating it would be if it collided with a major city, turning speculation into a terrifyingly real possibility.
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Astronomers first spotted 2024 YR4 in December 2023 using NASA-funded telescopes in Chile. At the time, its chance of colliding with Earth was calculated at a modest 1.2%—nothing too alarming. However, as scientists refined their data, that probability doubled to 2.3%, meaning there is now a one in 43 chance that this asteroid could strike Earth. This may not sound like much, but in the world of asteroid tracking, it's a significant leap.
NASA and the European Space Agency have been monitoring thousands of space rocks for years, but 2024 YR4 is the only known asteroid with an impact probability higher than 1%, making it the most pressing space threat to Earth in decades. The asteroid now ranks a 3 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, a system that measures asteroid threats from 1 to 10. Only one asteroid, 99942 Apophis, has ever received a higher rating—and that was later downgraded when further calculations showed it would miss Earth.
What Happens If It Hits? The Devastating Impact of an Asteroid Strike
Scientists have used nuclear explosion models to estimate the damage a collision
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