re: #114 Walter L. Newton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_event

Asteroids with diameters of 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) enter the Earth’s atmosphere approximately once per year, with as much energy as Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, approximately 15 kilotons of TNT. These ordinarily explode in the upper atmosphere, and most or all of the solids are vaporized.

How many kilotons equivalent was this quake again?

re: #118 b_sharp

True, they can’t be directly compared because the exact effects on their surroundings are different. But in terms of energy released is what was being referenced.