A giant potentially deadly asteroid, measuring up to 2.4 miles and which is believed to have been the source of a meteor which hit and nearly killed a woman during a previous pass of Earth, is hurtling this way at 36,000 miles an hour

The space rock known as 1685 Toro is classed as an Apollo asteroid – a group of nearly 7,000 which cross the Earth’s orbit and are known to often send large numbers of meteorites crashing to the surface of our planet.

The infamous meteorite which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in October 2013, injuring 1,000 people, is believed to have originated from an Apollo asteroid.

The monster rock is believed to be up to 4km-long (2.4miles) and although it passes us at the relatively safe distance of 14 million miles, NASA describes it as a “close approach” and is closely monitoring it to learn more about the asteroid that could one day threaten Earth.

It is thought to be the asteroid that was responsible for sending the first recorded event in the USA of a meteor crashing to Earth which hit and injured a human.

On November 30 1954 Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, USA, was injured by a falling meteorite.

Records of scientific tests done at the time show that, based on orbits at the time 1685 Toro , which is also known as Earth’s second satellite, was calculated by experts to be the most likely origin of the meteor which injured her.

Although the millions of miles 1685 Toro will be from us at the time sounds far off, it is a brush past in cosmic terms, as the Yarkovsky drift effect can change the orbit of an asteroid and a direct hit from something bigger than two miles could wipe out billions of lives.