Chance of ‘city-killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4 smashing into Earth rises yet again to 3.1%, NASA reports.
NASA has increased the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 to 1 in 32, or 3.1%, up from 1 in 42 as reported in previous calculations.
The probability that a major asteroid, big enough to wipe out an entire city, will hit Earth in 2032 has just increased to 1 in 32, or 3.1%, according to NASA.
On Feb. 7, NASA increased the likelihood that asteroid 2024 YR4 will hit Earth in seven years time from 1.2% to 2.3%. The odds of impact then climbed to 2.6%, and are now at 3.1%, according to the latest data on NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies website.
Asteroid 2024 YR4 has an estimated diameter of around 177 feet (54 meters), or about as wide as the leaning tower of Pisa is tall. But while it is too small to end human civilization, the asteroid could still wipe out a major city, releasing about 8 megatons of energy upon impact — more than 500 times the energy released by the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan.
The good news is that there’s still a 96.9% chance that the asteroid will miss Earth entirely, and as researchers learn more about its trajectory, the odds of a strike are likely to decrease to 0%, based on its current risk level in the NASA data. There’s also a tiny 0.3% chance that YR4 will hit the moon instead of Earth, Live Science previously reported.
Scientists use a measurement called the Torino Scale to categorize the risk posed by nearby asteroids and comets. With a Torino Scale rating of 3 out of 10, YR4 is capable of localized destruction and passes the 1% impact probability threshold (meaning the risk of a potential impact is estimated to be greater than 1%).
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