List of impact craters on Earth


This list of impact craters on Earth contains a selection of the 190 confirmed craters given in the Earth Impact Database. To keep the lists manageable, only the largest craters within a time period are included. The complete list is divided into separate articles by geographical region.

Confirmed impact craters listed by size and age

These features were caused by the collision of meteors or comets with the Earth. For eroded or buried craters, the stated diameter typically refers to the best available estimate of the original rim diameter, and may not correspond to present surface features. Time units are either in thousands or millions of years.

10 ka or less

Less than ten thousand years old, and with a diameter of or more. The EID lists fewer than ten such craters, and the largest in the last 100,000 years is the Rio Cuarto crater in Argentina. However, there is some uncertainty regarding its origins and age, with some sources giving it as < 10 ka while the EID gives a broader < 100 ka.
The Kaali impacts during the Nordic Bronze Age may have influenced Estonian and Finnish mythology, the Campo del Cielo could be in the legends of some Native American tribes, while Henbury has figured in Australian Aboriginal oral traditions.
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NameLocationCountryDiameter
Age
DateCoordinates
WabarRub' al Khali desertSaudi Arabia0.10.2
KaaliSaaremaaEstonia0.14.0
Campo del CieloChacoArgentina0.14.0
HenburyNorthern TerritoryAustralia0.24.2
MoraskoPoznańPoland0.15.0
BoxholeNorthern TerritoryAustralia0.25.4
MachaSakha RepublicRussia0.37.3
Rio Cuarto Córdoba ProvinceArgentina4.5
IlumetsaPõlva CountyEstonia0.086.6

For the Rio Cuarto craters, 2002 research suggests they may actually be aeolian structures. The EID gives a size of about for Campo del Cielo, but other sources quote.

10 ka to 1 Ma

From between 10 thousand years to one million years ago, and with a diameter of or more. The largest in the last one million years is the Zhamanshin crater in Kazakhstan and has been described as being capable of producing a nuclear-like winter.
However, the currently unknown source of the enormous Australasian strewnfield could be a crater about across.
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NameLocationCountryDiameter Age Coordinates
TenoumerSahara DesertMauritania
Meteor CraterArizonaUnited States
XiuyanXiuyanChina
LonarMaharashtraIndia
AgoudalAtlas MountainsMorocco
TswaingPretoria SaltpanSouth Africa
ZhamanshinKazakhstanKazakhstan

1 Ma to 10 Ma

From between 1 and 10 million years ago, and with a diameter of or more. If uncertainties regarding its age are resolved, then the largest in the last 10 million years would be the Karakul crater which is listed in EID with an age of less than five Ma, or the Pliocene. The large but apparently craterless Eltanin impact into the Pacific Ocean has been suggested as contributing to the glaciations and cooling during the Pliocene.
NameLocationCountryDiameter Age Coordinates
BosumtwiAshantiGhana
ElgygytgynChukotka Autonomous OkrugRussia
BigachKazakhstanKazakhstan
KarlaTatarstanRussia
KarakulPamir MountainsTajikistan

10 Ma or more

Craters with diameter or more are all older than 10 Ma, except possibly Karakul,, whose age is uncertain.
There are more than forty craters of such size. The largest two within the last hundred million years have been linked to two extinction events: Chicxulub for the Cretaceous–Paleogene and the Popigai impact for the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event.
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NameLocationCountryDiameter Age Coordinates
VredefortFree StateSouth Africa
ChicxulubYucatánMexico
SudburyOntarioCanada
PopigaiSiberiaRussia
ManicouaganQuebecCanada
AcramanSouth AustraliaAustralia
MorokwengKalahari DesertSouth Africa
KaraNenetsiaRussia
BeaverheadIdaho and MontanaUnited States
TookoonookaQueenslandAustralia
CharlevoixQuebecCanada
Siljan RingDalarnaSweden
KarakulPamir MountainsTajikistan
MontagnaisNova ScotiaCanada
AraguainhaCentral BrazilBrazil
Chesapeake BayVirginiaUnited States
MjølnirBarents SeaNorway
Puchezh-KatunkiNizhny Novgorod OblastRussia
Saint MartinManitobaCanada
WoodleighWestern AustraliaAustralia
CarswellSaskatchewanCanada
Clearwater WestQuebecCanada
MansonIowaUnited States
Slate IslandsOntarioCanada
YarrabubbaWestern AustraliaAustralia
KeurusselkäWestern FinlandFinland
ShoemakerWestern AustraliaAustralia
MistastinNewfoundland and LabradorCanada
Clearwater EastQuebecCanada
KamenskSouthern Federal DistrictRussia
Steen RiverAlbertaCanada
StrangwaysNorthern TerritoryAustralia
TunnunikNorthwest TerritoriesCanada
BoltyshKirovohrad OblastUkraine
Nördlinger RiesBavariaGermany
Presqu'îleQuebecCanada
HaughtonNunavutCanada
LappajärviWestern FinlandFinland
RochechouartFranceFrance
Gosses BluffNorthern TerritoryAustralia
Amelia CreekNorthern TerritoryAustralia
LoganchaSiberiaRussia
Obolon'Poltava OblastUkraine
DhalaMadhya PradeshIndia

Large unconfirmed craters

The largest unconfirmed craters or more are significant not only for their size, but also for the possible coeval events associated with them. For example, the Wilkes Land crater has been connected to the massive Permian–Triassic extinction event. The sortable table has been arranged by diameter.
NameLocationCountryDiameter Age Coordinates
Mistassini-Otish impact craterQuebecCanada
Australian impact structureNorthern TerritoryAustralia
Shiva crateroffshore of IndiaIndia
Wilkes Land craterWilkes LandAntarctica
Nastapoka arcNunavut/QuebecCanadaunknown
Czech CraterCentral EuropeCzech Republic
Ishim impact structureAkmola RegionKazakhstan
Bedoutoffshore of Western AustraliaAustralia
Falkland Plateau anomalyoffshore of South AmericaFalkland Islands
East Warburton BasinSouthern AustraliaAustralia

All craters listed alphabetically

, the Earth Impact Database contains 190 confirmed craters. The table below is arranged by the continent's percentage of the Earth's land area, and where Asian and Russian craters are grouped together per EID convention. The global distribution of known impact structures apparently shows a surprising asymmetry, with the small but well-funded European continent having a large percentage of confirmed craters. It is suggested this situation is an artifact, highlighting the importance of intensifying research in less studied areas like Antarctica, South America and elsewhere.