Meteorite leaves an imprint on landscape and villagers in Peru

CARANCAS, Peru — When she heard the explosion, Isabel Junquilla said she was sure war had broken out.

"We thought the Chileans were attacking," Junquilla, 53, recalled Thursday, referring to Peru's historic rival, Chile. "That's what everyone was saying. It was very loud."

Townsfolk in this desolate, high-plains hamlet not far from Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian border received the shock of their lives — a meteorite that struck with a thunderous bang just before noon Saturday, leaving a deep crater, an acrid smell and terrified villagers and livestock.

The meteorite strike cast a global spotlight on this hardscrabble outpost of perhaps 3,000 Indian peasants who live in mud-brick homes and make a living by growing potatoes, herding llamas and raising scraggly cattle.

The incident took on a magical-realism feel out of a Gabriel García Márquez tale as residents reported strange illnesses and revolting odors, while repeating rumors of a military attack, radiation or a celestial rain of gold.

Authorities took soil and water samples from near the crater for analysis.

After days of doubt, they confirmed Thursday that the object was indeed a meteorite — not volcanic pumice, space junk or some other earthly or extraterrestrial phenomenon.

"We're now convinced this was a meteor," said Ronald Woodman, director of the Peruvian Geophysical Institute, which sent a team to the site, more than 600 miles southeast of Lima, the capital. "This kind of phenomenon can be dangerous, if it falls on a town, or on a house or person. Fortunately, this wasn't the case."

The object, Woodman said, was metallic in nature and created a crater 42 feet wide and 15 feet deep. The impact also registered a 1.5-magnitude tremor on the institute's seismic equipment.

Experts from Peru's nuclear-energy institute estimated the meteorite probably was no more than 1 meter in diameter when it smashed into Earth at an extremely high speed. That may have been all that remained of a much larger object that burned up while streaking through the atmosphere, experts said.

The event has drawn worldwide interest, since few objects from outer space make it all the way to Earth's surface.

And it has caused a sensation in this drowsy corner of the Andean altiplano.

"Even before it fell, there was a strong sound, like an airplane," recalled Marina Llanqui Mamani, 53. "And when it hit, it felt like an earthquake. Everyone was terrified. Even my animals were running all around. ... Then there was a loud noise and a lot of smoke."

The pungent odor, experts say, could have been caused when the crashing object fused with such elements as sulphur found in the earth.

"Now that various experts from Japan and other countries have assured us there is nothing bad, we have decided this belongs to us," said Benito Mosaja Pari, 56, who called himself the village lieutenant governor. "We're going to dig it out. The scientists tell us this was part of a world that fell apart. It has some value. And now it's ours."