There Was a Second Sun

A tremendous explosion occurred in a remote part of Siberia, Russia on the morning of June 30, 1908. The explosion was so strong that it was recorded across Europe and Asia. The force of the explosion knocked trees down covering an area of approximately 2,150 km² (approximately 830 square miles). The following excerpt describes an eyewitness account of this event by Chuchan of the Shanyagir tribe.

"We had a hut by the river with my brother Chekaren. We were sleeping. Suddenly we both woke up at the same time. Somebody shoved us. We heard whistling and felt strong wind. Chekaren said, 'Can you hear all those birds flying overhead?' We were both in the hut, couldn't see what was going on outside. Suddenly, I got shoved again, this time so hard I fell into the fire. I got scared. Chekaren got scared too. We started crying out for father, mother, brother, but no one answered. There was noise beyond the hut, we could hear trees falling down. Chekaren and I got out of our sleeping bags and wanted to run out, but then the thunder struck. This was the first thunder. The Earth began to move and rock; wind hit our hut and knocked it over. My body was pushed down by sticks, but my head was in the clear. Then I saw a wonder: trees were falling, the branches were on fire, it became mighty bright, how can I say this, as if there was a second sun, my eyes were hurting, I even closed them. It was like what the Russians call lightning. And immediately there was a loud thunderclap. This was the second thunder. The morning was sunny, there were no clouds, our sun was shining brightly as usual, and suddenly there came a second one!"

"Chekaren and I had some difficulty getting out from under the remains of our hut. Then we saw that above, but in a different place, there was another flash, and loud thunder came. This was the third thunder strike. Wind came again, knocked us off our feet, struck against the fallen trees."

"We looked at the fallen trees, watched the tree tops get snapped off, watched the fires. Suddenly Chekaren yelled 'Look up' and pointed with his hand. I looked there and saw another flash, and it made another thunder. But the noise was less than before. This was the fourth strike, like normal thunder."

"Now I remember well there was also one more thunder strike, but it was small, and somewhere far away, where the sun goes to sleep."

(The massive explosion that Chuchan experienced is today known as the Tunguska Event. This incident will be explored in greater detail in "G3 - Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinction / The Death of the Dinosaurs / History Link - The Tunguska Event")

Questions for Comprehension and Understanding:

1. What was the name of Chuchan's brother?
His brother's name was Chekaren.


2. What were Chuchan and his brother doing when the event occurred?
They were both sleeping in a hut by the river.


3. What happened to the hut?
A wind hit the hut and knocked it over.


4. What was happening to the surrounding trees?
The trees were being knocked over and the branches were on fire.


5. What does Chuchan mean when he says "our sun was shining brightly as usual, and suddenly there was a second one"?
He means that there was a bright light in the sky equal in intensity to the sun.


6. How many thunder strikes did Chuchan hear?
Chuchan heard five distinct thunder strikes.


7. Chuchan states that the last thunder strike occurred in a direction "where the sun goes to sleep." What direction is Chuchan referring to?
Since the sun sets in the west, Chuchan is probably referring to this direction.


8. Speculate on what might have caused this large explosion in a remote area of the Siberian forest.
Answers will vary for this question. The most probable answer is an asteroid impact.