WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A meteor crashing toward Earth exploded over the northeastern United States (US) on Saturday, NASA said, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT.

The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at 2:06 pm (1806 GMT), the US space agency’s Deputy News Chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement.

“This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said.

“The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tonnes of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.”

The meteor was travelling at 75,000 mph (more than 120,000 kph) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart, Dooren said.

Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that houses were shaking.

In 2013, a fireball streaked above Chelyabinsk, Russia. The house-sized space rock blew apart 14 miles above the ground, releasing a blast equivalent to 440,000 tonnes of TNT, NASA said.

The explosion blew out windows over 200 square miles (518 square kilometres), injuring more than 1,600 people, mostly due to broken glass.