Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The asteroid that triggered the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction 66 million years ago struck near the present-day town of Chicxulub Puerto on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The resulting Chicxulub crater—buried under 600–1,000 m of sediment—is ~180 km (110 mi) wide. The impact caused global firestorms, tsunamis, and a "nuclear winter" that eliminated ~75% of species, including non-avian dinosaurs.