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Trees flattened by the Tunguska explosion, photographed by Leonid Kulik's 1927 expedition
Trees flattened by the Tunguska explosion, photographed by Leonid Kulik's 1927 expedition. Image: Leonid Kulik expedition (1927) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Science & space · Siberia · 30 June 1908

The Tunguska Event

Established1908 CEPodkamennaya Tunguska River, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia

An explosion that flattened a Siberian forest — and left no crater.

Research draft · editor review pending. Every claim below is linked to a checked source, but this dossier has not yet been reviewed by a human editor. Spot an error? Corrections are logged.

On the morning of 30 June 1908, a massive explosion over a remote region of Siberia flattened trees across roughly 2,000 square kilometers. For several nights afterward, skies across Europe and Asia glowed so brightly that people could read outdoors at midnight.

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How to read the labels

EstablishedSupported by strong, converging evidence.
ContestedEvidence exists but qualified scholars disagree.
UnresolvedThe question is open; evidence does not settle it.
LegendComes from myth, literature or tradition, not physical evidence.
SpeculativeA hypothesis with little direct evidence so far.

Hero image: Trees flattened by the Tunguska explosion, photographed by Leonid Kulik's 1927 expedition. Image: Leonid Kulik expedition (1927) · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons. Evidence labels describe the written claims, not the image. Version 1 · updated 2026-10-22.