What we noticed in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami was the randomness of the damage. Houses that were right
next to each other were affected differently: one destroyed
another untouched. This was supposed to be caused by the complex
interaction of the wave and the topography of the coast. In the
case of the meteor hit that affected the Siberian city of
Chelyabinsk, the damage has also been random according to
reports. Sometimes with glass containers within a home damaged
while the windows were not. Infrasound waves have not previously
been studied in a cityscape, Richard P. Binzel, a professor of
planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and an author of a textbook on asteroids and meteorites, said in
a telephone interview. But he noted that the apparent randomness
of the damage was consistent with the way such waves function.
“A shock wave can be coming from a particular direction, and if
you face that direction you are more susceptible,” Dr. Binzel
said. “One building mig