What would happen immediately after? Would everyone die instantly?
Would it take years?
Would the guys in the underground bunker of 12 inch titanium walls be safe?
I need answers!
For many miles around the impact zone, death would be instantaneous. For everyone else, it would be a long, dragged out death from starvation or violence. The dust cloud kicked up by the impact would likely cover the sun and result in the death of all plant life. See the movie "The Road" for a story of the long-term effects of an asteroid impact. I guess the guys in the bunker would be safe as long as the food holds out. When that was gone, they would have to chow down on each other, because there wouldn't be any other sources.
shareThat's kinda what I figured. So there would be survivors but in a horribly left Earth.
shareI am not sure of what the minimum size of the asteroid would have to be to trigger a civilization-ending collapse, but yes, the Earth would be barren and devastated for a very long time after, perhaps forever.
shareThey say that "Matilda," the asteroid in this film, is 70 miles wide.
That's about 10 times the size of the Chicxulub asteroid that killed the dinosaurs and potentially 1,000 times more massive.
Moreover, since this movie came out, scientists have projected that a 60-mile asteroid would be sufficient to wipe out all life on earth.
https://www.insidescience.org/video/how-big-does-asteroid-have-be-destroy-all-life
"Matilda" would likely shatter earth's crust, send mile-high tsunamis around the planet and potentially leave the entire surface a red hot mass of molten lava.
So ... we'd all die, not instantly, but pretty darn fast. On the plus side, it'd be relatively painless. Anything hitting you at that speed will kill you before your brain can register the impact.