Scientists announced the discovery Monday of dozens of tiny fragments of a massive meteor whose ground-shaking shockwave hurt 1,200 people and damaged buildings across five regions of Russia. The giant piece of space rock streaked spectacularly over the central city of Chelyabinsk on Friday before bursting with the force of 30 of the nuclear bombs dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

* Hundreds hurt by meteor explosion, shockwave * Scientists say 53 small meteorite fragments found * Hunters hope pieces worth 40 times the price of gold By Alissa de Carbonnel MOSCOW, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural mountains and sent fireballs blazing to earth has set off a rush to find fragments of the space rock which hunters hope could fetch thousands of dollars a piece.

Scientists said Monday they had discovered fragments of the meteor that spectacularly plunged over Russia's Ural Mountains creating a shockwave that injured 1,200 people and damaged thousands of homes. The giant piece of space rock streaked over the city of Chelyabinsk in central Russia on Friday with the force of 30 of the nuclear bombs dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II. It exploded a few dozen miles (kilometres) above Earth but its pieces were widely believed to have scattered over large swathes of the industrial region.

Russian authorities halted their search Sunday for the meteorite that spectacularly struck the Urals last week, leaving about 1,200 people injured and damaging several thousand buildings. The 10-tonne space rock streaked over the Chelyabinsk region in central Russia in a blinding fireball on Friday just as the world was braced for a close encounter with a large asteroid.