Meteorites seen to fall, 860 to 2013
Each of the 1,063 observed falls in NASA’s Meteorite Landings dataset (records to 2013) is placed where it came down, with its year, recovered mass and class.
Each dot is one fall; bigger dots carry more recovered mass. Equal Earth projection.
The ten heaviest falls, to scale
Circle areas are proportional to recovered mass. Sikhote-Alin alone recovered more than the next nine put together.
What kind of rock falls
Ordinary chondrites (the H, L and LL groups and their mixes) make up 78 % of the falls: 834 of 1,063. Iron meteorites are only 48 of the observed falls; most iron meteorites in the record are finds. The class pages explain every label.
- L chondrites 373
- H chondrites 345
- LL chondrites 84
- Intermediate and ungrouped ordinary chondrites 32
- Carbonaceous chondrites 44
- Enstatite chondrites 17
- Rumuruti and Kakangari chondrites 2
- Eucrites, howardites and diogenites 60
- Other achondrites 19
- Martian meteorites 5
- Stony-iron meteorites 11
- Iron meteorites 48
- Unclassified stones 23
When they were seen
The 1930s have the most recorded falls, 88. Between 1950 and 2009 the record gains about 5.6 falls a year on average; the oldest dated fall is Nogata in 860. The 2010s column stops in 2013, where the dataset ends.
Where they fell
Falls are recorded in 107 countries. Countries with five or more:
United States 146 · India 124 · France 58 · China 54 · Russia 48 · Japan 42 · Germany 31 · Ukraine 29 · Italy 28 · Brazil 22 · Spain 22 · Argentina 21 · Mexico 19 · United Kingdom 19 · South Africa 18 · Canada 16 · Indonesia 16 · Pakistan 15 · Nigeria 15 · Australia 15 · Czech Republic 15 · Turkey 11 · Poland 10 · Romania 9 · Sweden 9 · Norway 9 · Morocco 8 · Bangladesh 8 · Tanzania 8 · Sudan 7 · Hungary 7 · Niger 6 · Algeria 6 · Burkina Faso 6 · Kazakhstan 6 · Mauritania 5 · Ethiopia 5 · Uganda 5 · Tunisia 5 · Finland 5 · Serbia 5 · Malawi 5 · Bulgaria 5
All countries · Every fall by decade · The 60 heaviest finds
Fall notes
- How often are meteorites seen to fall?
About 5.6 recorded falls a year since 1950, with the counts by decade and continent.
- What labels like L6 and H5 mean
Group letters, type digits and suffixes, with the number of falls behind each label.
- The heaviest meteorite falls on record
Sikhote-Alin and the top twenty by recovered mass, plus the record holder of every family.
- Falls versus finds: what the difference means
Why witnessed falls are a small, special sample, and how finds differ in place, rock type and size.
- Where meteorites are seen to fall
Counts and density by country, the most crowded and the loneliest falls.
- Iron meteorites that were seen to fall
All 48 witnessed iron falls, their groups and the stony-irons beside them.
- Carbonaceous chondrites that were seen to fall
All 44 carbonaceous falls, their groups, the giants and the crumbs.