Asteroid as tall as a 35-storey building set to zoom past Earth on April 11

A 370-foot-wide asteroid, designated 2023 KU, is expected to pass by Earth at over 64,000 km per h around 9:05 PM on April 11, according to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Part of the Apollo group of asteroids, 2023 KU is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) discovered on May 26, 2023. Its perihelion distance brings it within Earth’s orbital path, classifying it as a Near-Earth Asteroid.

Roughly the size of a 35-storey building, the asteroid will safely pass at a distance of 1 million kilometres. However, experts remain cautious, as even slight gravitational interactions could potentially alter the course of such massive objects in the future.

In the unlikely event of a collision, the impact could be catastrophic, with destructive energy on par with nuclear explosions, capable of leveling cities and regions.

For context, 2023 KU is about six times larger than the Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded over Russia on February 15, 2013. That event released energy equivalent to 400–500 kilotons of TNT, shattering windows, damaging thousands of buildings, and injuring over 1,500 people.

Also read: ‘City Killer’ Asteroid 2024 YR4: Near-Zero Chance of Hitting Earth