The Carancas impact event refers to the fall of the ''Carancas''

chondritic A chondrite is a stony (non-metallic) meteorite that has not been modified by either melting or differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar System accreted to form primiti ...

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

on September 15, 2007, near the village of Carancas in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, close to the

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n border and

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

.Planetario Max Schreie
"Meteorito por el Desaguadreo"
, September 24, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service, Budapest, Hungary
"Cosmic Event - South-America"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Teresa Cespedes, Reuters
"Peruvians get sick from apparent meteorite crater"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. The impact created a small crater in the clay soil and scorched earth around its location.Rory Carroll, The Guardian UK

September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. A local official, Marco Limache, said that "boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby", as "fetid, noxious" gases spewed from the crater.NBC News
"Villagers fall ill after fireball hits Peru"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.BBC News
"Scores ill in Peru 'meteor crash'"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Surface impact occurred above . After the impact, villagers who had approached the impact site grew sick from a then-unexplained illness, with a wide array of symptoms.Lester Haines, The Register
"Peruvian 'meteorite' strike provokes noxious gas attack"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Australian Broadcasting Corporation

September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Doctors Aid in Rising Number of Illnesses after Meteorite Crash"
September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Two days later, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had indeed been a meteorite strike, quieting widespread speculation that it might have been a geophysical rather than a celestial event. At that point, no further information on the cause of the mystery illness was known. The

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

in the local area is known to contain

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

compounds, and the illness is now believed to have been caused by

arsenic poisoning Arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and water ...

incurred when residents of the area inhaled the

vapor In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R ...

of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water.

Impact event

At 11:40:14 local time (16:40:14 GMT) on 15 September 2007, a

crashed near the village of Carancas in the

Puno Region Puno () is a department and region in southeastern Peru. It is the fifth largest department in Peru, after Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It is bordered by Bolivia on the east, the departments of Madre de Dios on the north, Cusc ...

, near the

n border and

(see map box on right). The impact created a crater larger than deep, wide, with visibly scorched earth around the impact site. A local official, Marco Limache, said that "boiling water started coming out of the crater, and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby", as "fetid, noxious" gases spewed from the crater. The crater size was given as , with its greatest dimensions in an east–west direction. The fireball had been observed by the locals as strongly luminous with a smoky tail, and seen from just above the ground. The object moved in a direction toward N030E. The small seismic shock of the impact shattered the windows of the local health center away. A smoke column was formed at the site that lasted several minutes, and gas was seen bubbling up in the water in the crater. One villager was as close as from the impact site. He fell from his bicycle but was not injured. A small building from the impact site only sustained roof damage from flying debris. The loud noise and explosive impact originally led Peruvians to think that

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

had launched a rocket attack.Liubomir Fernandez and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
"Meteorite causes a stir in Peru"
21 September 2007 ''(registration is required)''. Retrieved 10 October 2007. Soon after the impact, more than 600 villagers visited the site and some began to fall ill from unexplained causes, including symptoms of

dermal The dermis or corium is a layer of skin between the epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that primarily consists of dense irregular connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. It is divided i ...

injuries,

nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. It can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the throat. Over 30 d ...

headaches A headache, also known as cephalalgia, is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Head ...

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

and

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...

. On 20 September, Peruvian scientists confirmed that there had been a meteorite strike, but no further information on the cause of the illnesses was known.

Impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

specialists have called the impact unusual, and have stated that the meteorite was at least in diameter before disintegrating. The

in the area was known to contain

compounds, and the illness was believed to have been caused by

incurred when residents of the area inhaled the

of the boiling arsenic-contaminated water. According to cosmochemist Larry Grossman of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, the aerial lights and explosions reported were consistent with extraterrestrial material.Andrea Thompson, Space.com
"Scientists Doubt Meteorite Sickened Peruvians "
19 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October, 2007. Astrophysicist Jose Ishitsuka of the Geophysical Institute of Peru confirmed that there had been a meteorite strike, and remains of the impactor were found at the crater site.

Impactor

On 20 September, the X-Ray Laboratory at the Faculty of Geological Sciences, Mayor de San Andres University,

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz ( Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bolivia. Its metropolitan area ...

, published a report of their analysis of a small sample of material recovered from the impact site. They detected iron,

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

, and traces of

iridium Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...

— elements characteristic of the elemental composition of meteorites. The quantitative proportions of

silicon Silicon is a chemical element; it has symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a membe ...

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

are incompatible with rocks that are normally found at the surface of the Earth. INGEMMET (''Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico'') of Peru released internally a report on the Carancas meteorite fall on September 21. The release of the document to the public was delayed for one week. The researchers found that the fragments from the crater zone had a chondritic texture and the following mineral composition:

pyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated Px) are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents ions of calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron ( ...

(1) 40%,

olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron Silicate minerals, silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of Nesosilicates, nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle, it is a com ...

20%,

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

10%,

(2) 10%;

kamacite Kamacite is an alloy of iron and nickel, which is found on Earth only in meteorites. According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) it is considered a proper nickel-rich variety of the mineral native iron. The proportion iron:ni ...

15%,

troilite Troilite () is a rare iron sulfide mineral with the simple formula of FeS. It is the iron-rich endmember of the pyrrhotite group. Pyrrhotite has the formula Fe(1−x)S (x = 0 to 0.2) which is iron deficient. As troilite lacks the iron deficiency ...

5%, and traces of

chromite Chromite is a crystalline mineral composed primarily of iron(II) oxide and chromium(III) oxide compounds. It can be represented by the chemical formula of Iron, FeChromium, Cr2Oxygen, O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. The ...

and

native copper Native copper is an uncombined form of copper that occurs as a natural mineral. Copper is one of the few metallic elements to occur in native form, although it most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements. Native coppe ...

Kamacite Kamacite is an alloy of iron and nickel, which is found on Earth only in meteorites. According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) it is considered a proper nickel-rich variety of the mineral native iron. The proportion iron:ni ...

occurs naturally only in

meteorites A meteorite is a rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheri ...

. The official classification of the Carancas meteorite, accepted by the

Meteoritical Society The Meteoritical Society is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1933 to promote research and education in planetary science with emphasis on studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of th ...

, was done by a team of scientists working at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. The meteorite is an

ordinary chondrite The ordinary chondrites (sometimes called the O chondrites) are a class of stony chondritic meteorites. They are by far the most numerous group, comprising 87% of all finds. Hence, they have been dubbed "ordinary". The ordinary chondrites are t ...

, an

H chondrite The H type ordinary chondrites are the most common type of meteorite, accounting for approximately 40% of all those catalogued, 46% of the ordinary chondrites, and 44% of all chondrites. The ordinary chondrites are thought to have originated from ...

breccia Breccia ( , ; ) is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or Rock (geology), rocks cementation (geology), cemented together by a fine-grained matrix (geology), matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language ...

, containing clasts of petrologic types 4 to 5. The formal classification is H4-5. Further data were expected from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, along with British and Japanese researchers, who intended on looking into the matter.Luisa Macedo F. & José Macharé O., INGEMMET
"The Carancas Meteorite Fall, 15 September 2007"
21 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

Illness complaints

Afterwards, local townspeople went to see what happened, and 100 to 200 people who got near to the meteorite crater soon reported feeling sick. First responding police officers arriving to investigate the scene also fell ill.Agence France Presse
"Peruvian scientists probe fumes from meteorite crater"
, September 18, 2007 ''(first published report of event)''. Retrieved October 10, 2007. After the initial event of September 15, the number of people falling ill increased, requiring physicians to establish auxiliary medical tents for the Carancas health center. Patients were treated for dermal injuries, nausea, headaches, diarrhea and vomiting. The death of nearby livestock was also reported.CBC News
"600 sick in Peru after 'meteorite' crashes"
September 19, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Locals made the decision to stop drinking from nearby water sources for fear of contamination and authorities considered declaring a state of emergency. Four days after the meteorite impact and the unexplained illness, most villagers reported having recovered. Reported details about the event, such as water boiling in the muddy crater for ten minutes from the heat of the impact, presented a problem for experts. Because the impact site is at a high altitude of more than , the meteoroid may not have been slowed down as much as it ordinarily would have been by passage through the Earth's denser lower atmosphere, and kinetic energy at impact may have been unusually high for a terrestrial impact of an object of this size and mass. Most larger meteorites are cold in their bulk mass when they land on Earth, since their heated outer layers

ablate Ablation ( – removal) is the removal or destruction of something from an object by vaporization, chipping, erosive processes, or by other means. Examples of ablative materials are described below, including spacecraft material for ascent and ...

from the objects before impacting. It was later confirmed that the meteorite contained a large amount of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and possessed magnetic properties common to similar metallic objects, which contributed to its capacity to retain heat during

atmospheric entry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entr ...

.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Astrophysicist in Peru Identifies Properties in Meteorite"
, September 21, 2007, 17:00. Retrieved October 10, 2007.

Government response

In contrast with other international media reports, Peruvian health officials downplayed the incident. Jorge López Tejada, the Regional Health Director for Puno, Peru, denied any serious medical situation existed. However, a health brigade arrived with personnel and medication to the site on 18 September, reporting that the odors rising from the crater were causing medical issues.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Regional Health Director Reports on Health Near Meteorite Crash Site"
, 18 September 2007, 15:00. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Earlier, Tejada had stated that the officers were dizzy, nauseous and some were vomiting.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Police Officers Hospitalized After Collecting Meteorite Samples in Peru"
, 18 September 2007, 11:00. Retrieved 10 October 2007. On 19 September, Andina, Peru's official government news agency, reported that the sick villagers appeared to be recovering.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Peru's Geophysicists Test for Radiation, Meteorite Sickness Caused by Toxic Gases"
, 16:00 19 September 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007. "They are recovering, there aren't any critical cases. A total of 200 people with different symptoms have been seen," stated López Tejada.Living in Peru, LIP-ir. Government officials also specifically asked people to avoid the "glowing object that fell from the sky."Living in Peru, LIP-ir. The mayor, Maximiliano Trujillo, assumed a psychosomatic reason behind the reports but decided to ask a local shaman to prepare a cleaning ritual in order to calm the population.Joshau Bearman, Allison Keeley
The Mad Scramble to Claim the World's Most Coveted Meteorite
In: Wired, 12.17.18

Suspected cause

Scientists initially ruled out

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

as the cause of the illness. Renan Ramirez of the Peruvian Nuclear Energy Institute stated that the medical conditions could have been caused by

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

or other toxins that may have melted in the extreme heat produced by the meteorite strike.Agence France Presse
"Peru meteor illness deepens"
September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Some unnamed Peruvian sources stated soon after the event occurred that it was indeed a meteorite.Teresa Cespedes, Reuters.Associated Press
" Peru Links Illness to Supposed Meteorite"
, September 18, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2007. Later on 18 September, a Peruvian vulcanologist stated that the impact was caused by a

chondrite A chondrite is a stony (non-metallic) meteorite that has not been modified by either melting or planetary differentiation, differentiation of the parent body. They are formed when various types of dust and small grains in the early Solar Syste ...

meteorite arrival.Living in Peru, LIP-ir
"Scientist Confirms Meteorite in Puno, Peru is a Chondrite"
, 19 September 2007, 18:30. Retrieved 10 October 2007. The illness may have been attributed to possible

. Luisa Macedo of Peru's Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology Institute said gases were created when the meteorite's hot surface reacted with an underground water supply tainted with arsenic. Natural arsenic deposits in ground water are not uncommon in southern Peru. José Ishitsuka of the Peruvian Geophysics Institute said, "If the meteorite arrives incandescent and at a high temperature because of friction in the atmosphere, hitting water can create a column of steam." A doctor from a medical team found no evidence of radiation effects and that the illnesses may have been

psychosomatic Somatic symptom disorder, also known as somatoform disorder or somatization disorder, is chronic somatization. One or more chronic physical symptoms coincide with excessive and maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors connected to those symp ...

References

External links

Brief account on the impact event and photos of Carancas meteorite fragments

Brown Scientist Answers How Peruvian Meteorite Made It to Earth
{{good article Arsenic Impact craters of Peru Holocene impact craters Modern Earth impact events Health in Peru 2007 in Peru 2007 in science September 2007 in South America Carancas impact event