A mysterious late-night blast in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua that left a crater 40 feet wide was most likely caused by a meteorite, government scientists said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press.
The loud explosion occurred around 11 p.m. on Saturday on the outskirts of Managua near the airport, said Wilfried Strauch from the Nicaraguan Institute of Earth Studies (Ineter) in an interview on a government TV channel. No one was injured, the AP reported.
Strauch said that Nicaragua is asking the United States for expert help to investigate the event, which was picked up by seismic sensors, according to the AP.
"All the evidence that we've confirmed on-site corresponds exactly with a meteorite and not with any other type of event," said Jose Millan, also from Ineter, the AP reported. "Firstly, we have the seismic register which coincides with the time of impact, and the typical characteristic that it produces a cone in the place of impact."
Strauch said they had not been able to determine the composition of the supposed meteorite as they were not sure whether it had disintegrated on hitting ground or if it remained buried, according to the AP.
"We need to celebrate the fact that it fell in an area where, thank God, it didn't cause any danger to the population," Millan said, the AP reported.
Nicaragua has more than 20 volcanoes and is regularly shaken by earthquakes, so many locals initially thought a quake caused the loud bang, according to the AP.
Local residents reported hearing a loud boom Saturday night, but said they didn't see anything strange in the sky, the AP reported.
"I was sitting on my porch and I saw nothing, then all of a sudden I heard a large blast. We thought it was a bomb because we felt an expansive wave," Jorge Santamaria told the AP.
The site of the crater is near Managua's international airport and an air force base, but only journalists from state media were allowed to visit it, according to the AP.
