Sirente Crater

The Sirente crater (Italian: Cratere del Sirente) is a small shallow seasonal lake in Abruzzo, central Italy. The depression, which is located at the center of the Prati del Sirente, a mountainous highland north of the Sirente massif in the Apennines, is 13 km (8.1 mi) from the village of Secinaro. Its formation has prompted a number of theories in recent years.

Interest in the Sirente crater began in the late 1990s after Swedish geologist Jens Ormö, an impact crater specialist, noticed ridges near the site that indicated a bolide collision. A research team named "The Sirente Crater Group" along with two scientists from the International Research School of Planetary Science of Pescara (IRSPS) began a detailed examination of the area. The team concluded the meteorite struck the Earth with the force of a small nuclear bomb; approximately one kiloton in yield. The blast would have created a mushroom cloud and shockwaves similar to a nuclear explosion.