Asteroid Impact Simulation

The massive asteroid — larger than Japan’s main island of Honshu — is traveling at a speed of over 720,000 kilometers per hour (450,000 mph) when it crashes into the Pacific about 1,500 kilometers (1,000 mi) south of Japan. The impact causes the crust of the Earth to peel away like the skin of an orange, in what is called a “crust tsunami.” Japan and a large portion of Asia are disintegrated, and chunks of burning rock as large as city blocks are hurled into the atmosphere before raining back down on the planet.

The crater from the impact measures 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) across, and the rim stands 7,000 meters (23,000 ft), higher than many mountains on Earth today.

Moments after the impact, a blanket of rock vapor as hot as the sun spreads quickly across the planet, decimating every living thing in its path. The entire planet is covered within one day. The oceans boil under the intense heat, evaporating at a rate of 5 centimeters (2 in) per second until they vanish.