Social media was alight Tuesday with videos that appeared to show a fireball blazing through the night sky above highways of southeast Michigan, and flashes of blue and orange light over settled snow.
As witness accounts — as well as surveillance and car dash camera footage — made the rounds, The National Weather Service Detroit (NWSD) wrote on Twitter that the flashes and bangs were “likely” a meteor, not thunder and lightning.
NWSD later confirmed that a meteor had occurred, citing the U.S. Geological Survey. It blew up over Detroit with enough force to register as a 2.0 earthquake, National Public Radio reports.
USGS confirms meteor occurred around 810pm, causing a magnitude 2.0 earthquake:
M 2.0 Meteorite - 8km WSW of New Haven, Michigan
The Ingham County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said in a Facebook post that the sighting was “a natural meteor fireball,” urging people not to call 911.
Meteor explodes over Michigan - 2.0 earth tremor
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A 'Natural Meteor Fireball' Just Exploded in the Sky Over Michigan
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