Experts point out that he public needs to understand that the discovery of a potentially hazardous asteroid is due to an improved detection system and not a harbinger of doom, according to The Washington Post.
Heidi Hammel, vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, urged the public not to worry about this new asteroid.
"I have car insurance and house insurance, but I don't worry about getting asteroid insurance," she said.
Currently, there are no other asteroids with a Torino rating above 0.
The asteroid's hazard rating is the second-highest ever recorded, behind only Apophis, which in 2004 briefly rated a 4.