Satellite and space expert Dr Stuart Eves stressed the large uncertainties involved in tracking the "decay" of satellite orbits (their slow fall back into the Earth's atmosphere).

BBC: Nasa refines satellite crash time

According to which you believe, great earthquakes will cause California to fall into the Pacific, tidal waves will devastate coastal cities, or the earth's crust will shift.

ECONOMIST: Not the end of the world

If Iraq were to fall out of the sky onto a random part of the earth, odds are good that it would plunk into the ocean, sink for at least two miles and then settle into a seemingly endless mudflat called the abyssal plain.

NPR: Down Deep, An Unexpected Fish Boom