NASA was ultimately wrong after rocks from the meteorite began raining down on the wider Urals region in central Russia.
At least six cities watched helplessly as the rain of debris constantly fell upon them.
Local media reported, citing military sources, that Russia's air defenses intervened with missiles that broke the huge meteorite into smaller pieces at an altitude of 20 kilometers above the Earth's surface to limit the consequences.
Dozens of buildings were damaged and authorities are combing an 80-kilometer radius centered on Chelyabinsk to locate remains of the meteorite, euronews reports.
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