Space

No, An Asteroid Hitting The Ocean Wouldn't Cause Waves Of Destruction

Simulations show that unless an asteroid hit really close to the shore, humans would probably be safe.

No, An Asteroid Hitting The Ocean Wouldn't Cause Waves Of Destruction
Los Alamos National Laboratory
SMS

We can keep making doomsday movies –– but we might want to give up the old asteroid-hitting-an-ocean-causing-waves-of-destruction trope. 

That's because researchers with Los Alamos National Laboratory found that an asteroid landing in open water would probably be a little anti-climactic. 

Through 11 simulations, they determined about 80 percent of the asteroid's energy would vaporize nearby water, making it a gas. Twenty percent would send water straight up in the air. 

Only a tenth of one percent of an asteroid's energy would go toward making waves. And while those waves would be big, they'd die out quickly. 

One of the researchers compared it to landslides in Iceland and Norway. In the 1930s, a landslide created waves that devastated a nearby village, but the water still couldn't travel very far. 

NASA's Asteroid Detection System Proved Its Worth
NASA's Asteroid Detection System Proved Its Worth

NASA's Asteroid Detection System Proved Its Worth

The Scout program was able to warn NASA of a potentially dangerous asteroid before it flew near Earth.

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The researchers note if an asteroid hit within about 12 miles of a coastline, it would be "devastating." 

But considering 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water, and most of it is open, we should probably be more worried about an asteroid hitting land. 

Of course, we have movies for that plotline, too.