Devastating impact asteroid would have on 'pinpointed locations' if it strikes Earth in seven years

The horrific impact that asteroid 2024 YR4 could have on Earth has been laid bare in a new simulation.

With an estimated 2.3 percent chance of crash landing on Earth in 2032 - that's about a one in 43 event - the huge asteroid would potentially cause huge damage to the planet with it labelled a 'city killer'.

First spotted during Christmastime last year by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile, scientists have since tracked its future journey through space. And it officially comes with a warning. As it stands, the chance of it hitting the planet has been increased almost two-fold to 2.3 percent when it next comes close to Earth's path around the Sun.

And if it were indeed to unfortunately hit the planet, there is one region of the Earth that is currently the most at-risk. According to engineer David Rankin from NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey Project, there is a 'risk corridor' where 2024 YR4 is most likely to land in the event of a collision.

It could hit (Getty Stock Image)

Where will the asteroid hit Earth?

Current estimates - and they are just that - say that the asteroid would fall in an area stretching from northern South America, across the Pacific Ocean, to southern Asia, the Arabian Sea, and Africa. When we're talking about specific countries, the likes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador would be at risk in such a situation.

LADbible has used one particular web app, called Asteroid Launcher, to estimate the impact of what such a collision might be.

Created by coder Neil Agarwhal, he based the app on the academic work of several scientists with the overall aim of calculating the real-world effects of an asteroid impact.

People would be killed by the wind blast (neal.fun)

What did the app show us?

Inputting calculations relating to the asteroid, such as what it is made from (scientists think mostly a rock-type substance), its speed (a whopping 17 kilometres per second, or 38,028 miles per hour), alongside its width and impact angle of roughly 45 degrees, the consequences are devastating.

Estimating what would happen should the asteroid land in a populated area such as Mumbai, India, 2024 YR4 would create a 986 metre wide crater in the city centre. This would also be 210 metres deep.

Devastatingly, it shows that roughly 7,688 people would be vaporised upon impact in an explosion equivalent to two megatons of TNT exploding at the same time.

Those within a particular radius would be left with severe lung damage and eardrum ruptures (neal.fun)

Other horrific outcomes

Worryingly, the devastation would not end there, with a further 108,503 people likely to be killed in the shock wave blast emitted due to the impact of the asteroid.

Anybody within 2.2 kilometres of the blast would likely die from lung damage, buildings within 5.1km collapsing, and everyone with 2.9km rupturing their eardrums.

The wind would be an even more devastating outcome than the initial impact, with 442,523 estimated to die from the subsequent wind blast around the crater, with homes within 2.5km of the impact zone levelled.

Everyone within 4.4km could effectively be feeling the equivalent of an EF5 tornado; the most dangerous of tornadoes as categorised by scientists.

The chances are slim (Getty Stock Image)

What if it landed in the ocean?

The devastation would be a lot less, the simulator says.

But one worrying outcome would be a tsunami caused by the collision, with waves being up to 88 metres tall.

For context, the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had waves as high as 51 metres. And given how close to land the impact would be, those within a three kilometre radius would have their lungs and eardrums damaged due to the subsequent shockwave.

Let's hope for the sake of humanity that 2024 YR4 passes us by with zero issues.