Experts Reveal The 9 Countries That Could Get Hit by the ‘City Killer’ Asteroid in 2032

A space rock, ominously dubbed a “city-killer,” hurtling towards Earth has been making headlines for the past few months. Scientists fear the asteroid named the ‘2024 YR4’ is at risk of hitting nine countries flagged in the risk corridor mapped by NASA engineer David Rankin associated with the Catalina Sky Survey Project, as per Daily Mail. While previously experts had assured that there is an unlikely chance of hitting Earth, a UK scientist has now warned that it might be too late to deflect the asteroid headed for catastrophic damage. 

The YR24 is predicted to strike along the corridor of northern South America, across the Pacific Ocean, southern Asia, the Arabian Sea, and Africa. The asteroid’s path has threatened the safety of humanity as scientists anticipate a mid-air explosion due to its interaction with Earth’s atmosphere resulting in an explosion equated to be as destructive as eight million tons of TNT burning down everything within a 30-mile radius to ashes. The asteroid while catastrophic is significantly smaller in size than Earth, about 130 to 300 feet wide. NASA predicts that the YR4 will likely impact nine nations– India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Venezuela, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Ecuador, per the Independent. The rest of the world will certainly feel the ripples of the possible crash. 

Space authorities have considered using deflecting methods to ram the asteroid out of Earth’s way given it now has a 1 in 43 chance of striking our home planet by December 2032, per the New York Post. Volcanologist Dr. Robin George Andrews (@SquigglyVolcano) is not convinced by the potential of deflection efforts like the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft and hinted it will be futile, if not more dangerous. He penned his prediction and warned about the potential dangers of the future collision in a viral X post. 

“I'm seeing a lot of people claim that, if it is going to impact Earth in 2032, we can use a DART-like spacecraft to ram it out of the way. Well, not necessarily. The DART mission was fab, but might not be able to stop 2024 YR4,” the expert, who authored How to Kill an Asteroid, cautioned. Moreover, he suggested that YR4 may be smaller than Dimorphos, a small asteroid orbiting a larger asteroid Didymos, but the looming risks of a deflection are higher. “We aren't going to see it again until another Earth flyby in 2028. So much could go wrong if we try and hit it with something like DART,” he added. 

Andrews also noted that one spacecraft will not be able to successfully deflect it. Several spacecraft will be needed to hit the space rock to perfectly deflect it from its path without shredding it into smaller pieces. He stressed the need for more information to accurately predict and prevent the impending damage. “We don't have enough info about this rapidly fading asteroid to properly inform our planetary defense decisions yet,” the volcanologist said.

Earlier,  Bruce Betts, the chief scientist of the Planetary Society, theorized that the YR4 could easily wipe out an entire city like New York City if placed on the respective path. When measured on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, the YR4 received the second-highest rating of 3 out of 10. The asteroid was first observed from the El Sauce Observatory in Chile in 2024 and is being closely monitored for additional risks.