The object had ten kilometers in diameter and
scientists have not yet determined exactly whether it was a meteorite or comet,
but agree that their average speed was 25 to 30 kilometers per second and left
a footprint impact (crater) of approximately 200 kilometers in diameter.
After impact the earth was plunged into total chaos. Caused large fires
occurred due to a temperature of up to 20 thousand degrees Celsius were
recorded throughout the Americas, there were earthquakes whose intensities
ranged from 14 to 16 degrees Richter and other disturbances that resulted in
numerous seismic and volcanic eruptions. In addition, heavy rains were
present acidic and formed huge waves, which now are known as tsunami (Japanese
word derived from), traveling horizontally at speeds of up to 750 mph and reach
between 15 30 meters in height. In the case of the Chicxulub impact has
been estimated that the tsunami could have reached heights of 100 to 200
meters, says the geologist José Manuel Gradates Nishimura, investigator
assigned to the Program of naturally fractured reservoirs, the Mexican
Petroleum Institute (IMP).
