New data on asteriod hits on Earth

A visualisation of new data showing the surprising frequency at which the Earth is hit by asteroids has been released.

The finding was made by the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation, which operates a network of sensors that monitor the Earth around the clock listening for the infrasound signature of nuclear detonations.

Between 2000 and 2013, the sensors detected 26 explosions on Earth ranging in energy from one to 600 kilotonnes - but these were not caused by nuclear explosions, but rather by asteroid impacts.

To put the explosions in perspective, the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945 exploded with an energy impact of 15 kilotonnes.