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On Sunday evening, an asteroid the size of a house soared past the Earth and may have released shards of meteorite into our atmosphere.

One such fragment is believed to have created a crater 39-ft wide (20 metres) in Nicaragua - but what would have happened if the asteroid itself had struck the Earth?

The Killer Asteroids project was set up to answer such questions, and calculates how far and wide the spread of damage would be if a space rock collided with our planet.

The project was funded by Washington's National Science Foundation (NSF) and Nasa.

Using a Google Earth plugin, the interactive calculator lets users select the type of projectile, either a comet or asteroid, as well as its size; small, medium or large.

For the purposes of the project, the small asteroid is listed as the size of a school bus, around 8ft (2.4 metres) wide, and made of iron.

The medium, stony asteroid is listed as being three times the size of a football field, approximately 1,080 ft (329 metres) wide.

While the large asteroid is listed as 6,336ft wide (1,931 metres), travelling at approximately 12 miles a second (20km).

The small 'miniature icy' comet in the simulation is 360ft wide (109 metres) and is moving at 30 miles a second (50km).

The medium comet is also made of ice and travelling at 30 miles a second (50km), but is 3,166ft (965 metres) wide.

The largest icy comet in the project is 31,680ft (9,656 metres).

Users can select any of these projectiles, before choosing from one of 15 locations where the impact will take place.

Alternatively, they can select a random location.

After pressing 'go', a simulated animation is shown hitting the chosen location, with a warning about the aftermath.

For example, a large comet crashing into Atlanta in Georgia would throw enough debris into the air to 'darken the skies.'

The map reveals that this kind of projectile could cause an 'extinction event', that is said to have killed off the dinosaurs, but 'happily these may only occur every billion years or so.'

A small asteroid hitting London would create a crater that spreads past St James' Park in the west, and Tower Bridge in the east. Buildings as far south as South Lambeth would fall over, but the impact would only affect those in this range.

This simulation shows the impact a medium asteroid hitting London would create. People in Southend on Sea, Reading, Brighton and up to Cambridge would suffer first degree burns. Residents of Slough, Dartford and Leatherhead would have their clothes set on fire. Steel buildings would be destroyed as far west as Hounslow and the crater would decimate the entire central London

A large comet hitting New York, for example, would create devastation across the east coast of the US, and people in Illinois and Ottawa in Canada would suffer first degree burns

Alternatively, a medium asteroid hitting the same spot would spread much further. People in Southend-on-Sea, Reading, Brighton and up to Cambridge would suffer first degree burns.

Residents of Slough, Dartford and Leatherhead would have their clothes set on fire. Steel buildings would be destroyed as far west as Hounslow and the crater would decimate the entire centre of London.

A large comet hitting New York, for example, would create devastation across the east coast of the US, and people in Illinois and Ottawa in Canada would suffer first degree burns.

All of these estimates were based on calculations devised by Professor Robert Marcus and his team at Purdue University, London.

His online calculator lets users customise the size and speed of projectiles.

Using the size of the asteroid 2014 RC (pictured), and making estimations about its speed, angle and density, if it was to hit Earth it would begin to breakup at an altitude of 207,000 ft (63100 metres). The air blast would arrive approximately 1.17 minutes after impact and sound intensity would be 51dB, or as loud as heavy traffic if you were stood a kilometre away. The asteroid was reported as passing closest to earth at approximately 7.18pm BST (2.18pm EST) over New Zealand on Sunday

One meteorite, believed to have been a shard of the asteroid 2014 RC, created a crater 39-ft wide (20 metres) in Nicaragua (pictured). The meteorite, which may have splintered from the asteroid, is said to have hurtled into a wooded area near the airport around midnight, and the hit was so large that it registered on the instruments Strauss's organisation uses to measure earthquakes

Using the size of the asteroid 2014 RC, and making estimations about its speed, angle and density, if it was to hit Earth it would begin to breakup at an altitude of 207,000 ft (63100 metres).

It would burst into a cloud of fragments at an altitude of 75,700 ft (23,100 metres).

The air blast would arrive approximately 1.17 minutes after impact and sound intensity would be 51dB, or as loud as heavy traffic if you were stood a kilometre away.

The asteroid was reported as passing closest to earth at approximately 7.18pm BST (2.18pm EST), as it travelled over New Zealand on Sunday.

It did not hit Earth, but its orbit will bring it back to our planet's neighbourhood in the future.

The asteroid's future motion will be closely monitored, but no future threatening Earth encounters have been identified, according to Nasa.