Washington: A meteor crashing toward Earth exploded over the northeastern United States on Saturday, NASA has confirmed, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tons of TNT.

The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at 2:06pm (1806 GMT). NASA deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP that the fireball was a natural object and not space debris or a satellite. "The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms," she said.

The meteor was traveling at 75,000 mph (more than 120,000 kph) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart. Area residents reported that the loud booms were so powerful that houses were shaking.

In 2013, a fireball streaked above Chelyabinsk, Russia, releasing a blast equivalent to 440,000 tons of TNT. That explosion blew out windows over 200 square miles and injured more than 1,600 people, mostly due to broken glass.

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