What if a massive asteroid just came out of nowhere and ended everything?
That's hopefully not something that will happen in our lifetimes, but it is something that has happened many times throughout Earth's history - to different levels of devastation.
Here are the 10 biggest asteroids to ever slam into Earth, (that we know of) and their resulting craters.
1
2-3 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Chesapeake Bay Crater
This 53-mile diameter crater in Virginia was caused by a bolide impact 53-million years ago. The bolide was between 1.9 to 3 miles in diameter.
2
3 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Manicouagan Crater
The Manicouagan Crater in Quebec was created 215 million years ago. The 62-mile crater is well preserved, and now houses Lake Manicouagan.
3
3-6 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Woodleigh Crater
The Woodleigh impact structure in Western Australia is between 37-100 miles wide, and was created 364 million years ago. It is one of the oldest known craters, and is entirely underground. Thus, accurate measurements are hard to come by.
4
3-5 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Popigai Crater
The Popigai Crater in Siberia was created 35.7 million years ago, by an asteroid that brought and created trillions of carats of diamonds. However, they are not worth salvaging because of low quality and remote location. The crater is about 56 miles wide.
5
3-6 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Morokweng Crater
Near the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, the Morokweng Crater is only visible through magnetic surveys under the surface. Its size might be anywhere from 50 to 150 miles in diameter.
6
3-5 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Acraman Crater
In South Australia, this ancient 580 million-year-old impact structure now houses Lake Acraman. It is 56 miles wide.
7
6-7 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Kara Crater
The 40-mile diameter Kara Crater in arctic Russia was caused by an asteroid over 70 million years ago. It is about 40 miles wide, but was once 75 miles wide.
8
6-10 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Sudbury Basin
One of the oldest known craters in the world is also one of the biggest, at 81 miles wide, and 1.8 billion years old. Located in Ontario, the Sudbury Basin is regarded as the world’s third biggest crater.
9
3 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Chicxulub Crater
This is the one you have all been waiting for. Slamming into Yucatán, Mexico around 65 million years ago, the resulting fallout led to the mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs. The Chicxulub Crater is between 106-186 miles in diameter, one of the biggest in the world.
10
9-10 Mile-Wide Asteroid: Vredefort Crater
Located in South Africa, the Vredefort Crater is both ancient, and massive. At 118 miles wide, it is considered the world’s largest impact structure, and at 2 billion years old, it is also the second oldest. It is one of the few impact craters with multiple rings.
