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A enormous meteor has exploded in Earth’s atmosphere with 10 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The meteor explosion occurred in December, but went largely unnoticed because it blew up over the Bering Sea.

According to NASA , the blast, which occurred on 18 December, was the second largest of its kind in 30 years.

The meteor measured several metres in diameter, and exploded around 25.6km above Earth’s surface.

Speaking to BBC News , Kelly Fast, near-Earth objects observations programme manager at Nasa, explained that the meteor had an impact energy of 173 kilotonnes.

She said: ”That was 40% the energy release of Chelyabinsk, but it was over the Bering Sea so it didn't have the same type of effect or show up in the news.

"That's another thing we have in our defence, there's plenty of water on the planet."

The blast was picked up by the US Air Force’s military satellites, which monitor the routes used by commercial planes.

NASA is now checking with airlines to see if anyone spotted the explosion as it happened.