A meteorite impacted a house in San Carlos, Uruguay

Abstract

Every year there are now almost two reports of meteorite falls that directly hit human beings or their belongings, which we call “damaging falls”. A new damaging fall occurred on September 18, 2015, when a meteorite impacted a house in the city of San Carlos (Maldonado, Uruguay). A 712 g stone broke through the asbestos cement roof and a wooden suspended ceiling. The meteorite and its fragments broke a wooden bed frame and a TV set. We conducted petrological and chemical analysis of the sample. The meteorite is classified as a LL6 chondritic breccia, with low content in siderophile minerals and moderate chondrule size. It has a shock stage S4 and a degree of weathering W0. This is the first Uruguayan meteorite to be confirmed. The prevalence of damaging falls is discussed.