Large scale meteor shower over Russia causes injuries and ground damage

A dramatic meteor shower took place over the Urals area of Russia today with large fireballs  and smoke tails seen in the sky and loud explosions heard. (See video below.) Sightings were reported in the cities of Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen. Widespread meteorite debris hitting the ground caused injuries to several hundred people  and damage to buildings (see second video below.)

Update: It was  just a cosmic coincidence. The meteoroid that caused the shower came from a much different orbit than asteroid 2012 DA14 and so they are not related: Astronomers: Russia’s Meteorite Is Not Related To Today’s Near-Earth Asteroid Fly-By – Popular Science.

From reading the articles today, some definitions are in order. A meteoroid is the rock traveling in space, a meteor is the bright flashy trail as it streaks through the atmosphere. and a meteorite is a chunk of a meteoroid that made it to the ground without vaporizing.