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Solar Storm Hits - But Earth Spared The Worst

Solar Storm Hits - But Earth Spared The Worst

The largest solar storm to engulf the Earth in five years has so far passed without the damage and disruption feared.

Hours after it arrived, officials said there have been no reports of problems with power grids, satellites or other technologies that are often affected by such storms.

About 10 times stronger than the normal solar wind that hits the Earth, there have been warnings the planet's magnetic field could still be shaken in ways that could disrupt technology - as well as spread the colourful northern lights.

The storm started with a massive solar flare on Tuesday evening and scientists have said it grew as it raced outward from the sun and expanded like a giant soap bubble.

Joe Kunches, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Centre, said the storm fortunately struck the eastern US in a direction that caused the least amount of problems.

He said: "It's not a terribly strong event. It's a very interesting event."

Initially, scientists predicted the storm would be the worst since 2006 - but now it seems only as bad as ones a few months ago, he said.

Forecasters can predict the speed a solar storm travels and its strength, but the north-south orientation is the wild card.

This time Earth has been lucky with a northern orientation. A southern one would have caused the most-damaging technological disruption and biggest auroras.

Mr Kunches added: "We're not out of the woods. It was a good start. If I'm a power grid, I'm really happy so far."

But that storm orientation can and is changing, he said. "It could flip-flop and we could end up with the strength of the storm still to come."

Astronomers say the sun has been relatively quiet for some time - and this storm, while strong, may seem fiercer because Earth has been lulled by several years of weak solar activity.

The storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, which is set to reach a peak next year.

Solar storms don't harm people, but they do disrupt technology - and during the last peak around 2002, experts learned that GPS was vulnerable to solar outbursts.