A giant meteor exploded over the Ural city of Chelyabinsk Friday morning, injuring 1,000 Russians. The government reported 3,000 buildings were damaged and that the rock was moving at 33,000 miles per hour.
What really makes all this fascinating, however, is that Russians flocked to social media to upload photographs and videos of the blast and its aftermath, mostly from car dashboard cameras.
Dash-cams have become an obsession in Russia, where brutality, bribes and government corruption are part of everyday life. As New York blogger Marina Galperina wrote in a fascinating piece for Animal last year, "Dash-cam footage is the only real way to substantiate your claims in the court of law. Forget witnesses. Hit and runs are very common and insurance companies notoriously specialize in denying claims.
The footage is nothing short of incredible, and there's a treasure trove on Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. For now, watch this video of the meteor touching ground:
[via Animal]
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