Experts Reveal Potential Impact Zones For ‘City-Destroying’ Asteroid Set To Strike In Seven Years

A massive asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth has had its potential impact path revealed. Scientists are closely monitoring its trajectory, and the latest predictions suggest that we may need to prepare for its arrival in the coming years.

We often hear about catastrophic space events that could threaten our planet, but this one is particularly alarming. If the calculations are correct, this asteroid could have devastating consequences.

Known as 2024 YR4, the space rock is estimated to be around the same size as the Statue of Liberty. That means it is far from a harmless piece of cosmic debris—it’s a force that could cause significant destruction if it makes contact with Earth.

The asteroid was first spotted in December, and since then, scientists have been analyzing how to handle its potential impact. However, Dr. Robin George Andrews has issued a warning that even attempting to deflect the asteroid could backfire.

He explained that using rockets to alter its course might not go as planned and could lead to disastrous consequences.

On X (formerly Twitter), he referenced NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first mission designed to test whether kinetic impact could successfully change an asteroid’s trajectory.

While the DART mission was considered a success, Andrews cautioned that its success does not guarantee that we can use the same method on just any asteroid at any time.

He explained: “Nobody wants to accidentally ‘disrupt’ an asteroid, because those components can still head for Earth. As I often say, it’s like turning a cannonball into a shotgun spray.”

“But 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.”

“It may be smaller, or larger. If it’s too big, we may not be able to deflect it with one spacecraft. We’d need several to hit it perfectly, all without catastrophically breaking it.”

He continued, elaborating on the risks: “And with only a few years down the line, we could accidentally deflect it — but not enough to make it avoid the planet. Then, it still hits Earth, just somewhere else that wasn’t going to be hit.”

And he offered another possibility: “Maybe 2024 YR4’s odd will rise, and we will successfully deflect it in 2028 using a monster-sized spacecraft. Or maybe we’ll break an awkward taboo and instead opt to use a nuclear warhead to try to deflect it, which would provide a bigger punch to the asteroid than DART.”

Rather than attempting to deflect the asteroid, Andrews suggested that evacuation may be the best course of action if the threat becomes imminent.

NASA engineer David Rankin, who works with the Catalina Sky Survey Project, has mapped out a “risk corridor”—a possible impact zone based on current trajectory predictions.

According to his calculations, 2024 YR4 could strike anywhere across northern South America, the Pacific Ocean, southern Asia, the Arabian Sea, or Africa.

If this projection holds true, countries that may be at risk include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Sudan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. These areas could experience the worst of the asteroid’s destruction.

Astronomers predict that if 2024 YR4 does collide with Earth, the impact would likely result in an airburst—a mid-air explosion equivalent to roughly 8 million tons of TNT. The resulting shockwave could cause widespread damage within a 50-kilometer radius.

To get a clearer picture of the asteroid’s exact size and structure, NASA has assigned an international team of astronomers to study it using the James Webb Space Telescope.

These observations will be critical in determining the true scale of the potential impact and how much destruction it could cause.

Shockingly, NASA has estimated that the asteroid has a one-in-43 chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. If that scenario plays out, the consequences could be catastrophic.