My entire apartment started shaking and there was a huge boom. I was just terrified. I had no idea what was happening.

我的整个公寓开始摇晃，然后有一个巨大的隆隆声。我吓坏了,不知道发生了什么事。

AZUZ: So if a meteor explodes in the atmosphere and no one’s around to hear it. Does it make a sound? NASA said it did. The fireball that blew up 16 miles over the earth’s surface in December was the second most powerful one to enter our atmosphere in 30 years according to the space agency. So why wasn’t this reported in December? Because scientists just noticed it. It was originally detected by military satellites and reported to NASA afterward. Why didn’t pictures and video go viral on social media like those of other fireballs do?

所以如果一颗流星在大气中爆炸，而周围没有人听到它。它发出声音了吗?美国国家航空航天局(NASA)表示确实如此。据美国宇航局称，去年12月在地球表面16英里处爆炸的火球是30年来进入大气层的第二大火球。那么为什么在12月没有报道呢?因为科学家们才刚刚注意到。它最初是由军事卫星探测到的，随后向美国宇航局报告。为什么图片和视频没有像其他火球一样在社交媒体上走红呢?

Because it happened over the Bering Sea in a pretty remote part of the world and relatively few people noticed. What exactly caused a blast that powerful? A meteor that scientists say was probably a few meters across. That’s all it takes to release 173 kilotons of energy and for reference one kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 pounds of TNT. Should you be worried about another one? Scientists say, no. Most fireball events are smaller. There have already been five note worthy explosions in 2019.

因为它发生在白令海之上，在世界上一个相当偏远的地方，相对很少有人注意到。究竟是什么引发了如此强大的爆炸?科学家说，这颗流星可能只有几米宽。这就是释放173000吨能量所需要的，作为参考，1000吨相当于1000磅TNT。你应该担心其他的爆炸吗?科学家们说不需要。大多数火球项目都比较小。2019年已经发生了5次值得注意的爆炸。

My entire apartment started shaking and there was a huge boom. I was just terrified. I had no idea what was happening.

AZUZ: So if a meteor explodes in the atmosphere and no one’s around to hear it. Does it make a sound? NASA said it did. The fireball that blew up 16 miles over the earth’s surface in December was the second most powerful one to enter our atmosphere in 30 years according to the space agency. So why wasn’t this reported in December? Because scientists just noticed it. It was originally detected by military satellites and reported to NASA afterward. Why didn’t pictures and video go viral on social media like those of other fireballs do?

Because it happened over the Bering Sea in a pretty remote part of the world and relatively few people noticed. What exactly caused a blast that powerful? A meteor that scientists say was probably a few meters across. That’s all it takes to release 173 kilotons of energy and for reference one kiloton is equivalent to 1,000 pounds of TNT. Should you be worried about another one? Scientists say, no. Most fireball events are smaller. There have already been five note worthy explosions in 2019.