Geophysical hypotheses[edit]

Though scientific consensus is that the Tunguska explosion was caused by the impact of a small asteroid, there are some dissenters. Astrophysicist Wolfgang Kundt has proposed
that the Tunguska event was caused by the release and subsequent explosion of 10 million tons of natural gas from within the Earth's crust.[69][70][71][72][73] The basic idea is
that natural gas leaked out of the crust and then rose to its equal-density height in the atmosphere; from there, it drifted downwind, in a sort of wick, which eventually found an
ignition source such as lightning. Once the gas was ignited, the fire streaked along the wick, and then down to the source of the leak in the ground, whereupon there was an
explosion.

The similar verneshot hypothesis has also been proposed as a possible cause of the Tunguska event.[74][75][76] Other research has supported a geophysical mechanism for the
event.[77][78][79]

Similar event[edit]
See also: Fireball (meteor), List of meteor air bursts, and Chelyabinsk meteor
A smaller air burst occurred over a populated area on 15 February 2013, at Chelyabinsk in the Ural district of Russia. The exploding meteoroid was determined to have been an
asteroid that measured about 17–20 metres (56–66 ft) across. It had an estimated initial mass of 11,000 tonnes and exploded with an energy release of approximately 500 kilotons.
[59] The air burst inflicted over 1,200 injuries, mainly from broken glass falling from windows shattered by its shock wave.[80]