MOSCOW -- Nearly 1,000 people have been injured after a meteor streaked through the sky and exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains, creating sonic blasts that shattered countless windows.
The Russian Academy of Sciences says the meteor, estimated to be about 10 tons. entered the Earth's atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of at least 54,000 kilometres per hour shattered about 30 to 50 kilometres above the ground.
The academy says it released the energy of several kilotons over Chelyabinsk, a city of one million.
Residents say there was panic because people had no idea what was happening.
City officials say the explosions broke an estimated 100,000 square meters of glass and 3,000 buildings were damaged.
Health officials say 985 people asked for medical help -- most hurt by shards of glass.
The Interfax news agency reports 43 were hospitalized.
The meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid to the Earth -- about 28,000 kilometres.
But the European Space Agency says its experts have determined there is no connection.
