Video Shows How Planet-Killer Asteroid Wiped Out Earth, Killed Dinosaurs [Watch]

A video simulation showed the devastating events that dinosaurs suffered shortly after a massive asteroid crashed on Earth. In just a few hours after impact, the thriving paradise on Earth turned into a hellish environment.

About 66 million years ago, an asteroid that was 6.2 miles wide collided with Earth. The impact created a crater with a diameter of 110 miles wide and triggered a series of catastrophic events that extremely altered the planet’s environmental conditions. The incident led to the mass extinction of over 70% of all life on Earth.

A video created by the Science Channel showed the series of events that eventually led to the demise of the dinosaurs that once ruled the planet. As indicated in the clip, only 1% of the asteroid’s force affected Earth when it hit the planet. The rest was deflected upwards. Despite it being only a small amount, it was still powerful enough to drastically affect the planet’s conditions.

The initial impact caused powerful seismic waves to radiate across Earth, creating up to magnitude 11 earthquakes. As the dinosaurs on land tried to evade the falling debris and violent ground movements caused by the earthquake, the massive ejector cloud from asteroid’s blast crept across the planet.

The cloud moved at a speed of almost 10,000 miles per hour. The static energy generated by the explosion caused massive electrical storms to form within the clouds. Combined with the heat from the impact event, the cloud incinerated everything in its path.

Aside from the rolling clouds, Earth also gets pelted by falling rocks from space. These rocks came from the debris sent by the asteroid impact into low orbit. As they returned to Earth, they created smaller impact events across the planet.

In just a few hours after the massive asteroid crashed on Earth, the temperature on the surface increased to 150 degrees Celsius. The intense heat was enough to kill living organisms within a few seconds.

The cloud eventually covered the entire planet and prevented sunlight from reaching the surface, creating a nuclear winter that lasted for decades. Without sunlight, many of the animals that survived the initial effects of the asteroid strike eventually died out.