A deadly asteroid for dinosaurs caused a “massive earthquake” that lasted for months

The prehistoric land was really rocky.

New research revealed that The asteroid that kills the dinosaursthat struck Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, and also caused a “massive earthquake” that shook the planet for weeks or even months following the impact, EurekAlert reported.

During the impact of the 10-kilometre space rock, there was seismic activity estimated to be 50,000 times stronger than the devastating 9.1 earthquake that devastated Sumatra in Indonesia in 2004.

Geologist Herman Dario Bermúdez — who spent the past year across Texas, Alabama and Mississippi studying notable rock formations that still show faults and fissures likely from the extinction event — believes this new set of data complements his findings for the Southern Hemisphere in 2014.

New evidence points to long-term seismic activity from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Getty Images / istockphoto

While on the Colombian island of Gorgonella, Bermúdez found deposits of globules — also known as layers of rock that contain tiny glass beads — among other evidence of a massive earthquake. These beads were the result of the heat and pressure of the asteroid melting into the Earth following the impact, ejecting the molten droplets into the atmosphere, which landed on the planet as glass due to gravity.

Fragments called “tektites” and “microtikites”, which were launched to Earth from the asteroid, were also found.

The stable Columbian rocks are thought to “tell a story from the ocean floor”, particularly at a depth of regarding two kilometers. Bermudez found that layers of mud and sandstone millions of years old are still preserved in the current outcrop due to vibration from the impact.

Severe earthquakes shook the planet for weeks following the asteroid impact, according to new research.
Getty Images / istockphoto

“It’s one of the best preserved places and it was on the ocean floor, so it wasn’t affected by the tidal waves,” he said.

Just above these deposits, fern spores were preserved that also indicated the first recovery of plant life following the asteroid impact.

New research suggests that the prehistoric asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs also caused months of earthquakes.
New research suggests that the prehistoric asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs also caused months of earthquakes.
Getty Images / istockphoto

Bermúdez also documented evidence of a large-scale tsunami caused by the impact.

Recently reported That the flood waters have flowed near space And flooding almost the entire planet in recreating the “Mile-Up” effect.

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