The center of the Earth is closer to you than London is to New York City.

The Earth's radius is approximately 3,958 miles (6,371 km) at the equator. This distance represents the journey from the surface through the crust and mantle to the very center of the inner core. For comparison, a direct flight from London Heathrow to New York JFK covers roughly 3,450 miles. This means the molten heart of our planet is physically closer to a person in London than the Statue of Liberty is.Despite this proximity, the deep interior remains largely unreachable. The Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia is the deepest man-made hole on Earth. Started in 1970, it reached a depth of 40,230 feet (12.2 km) in 1989. Scientists had to stop because temperatures reached 356 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius), which was much hotter than the expected 212 degrees Fahrenheit.At these depths, the rocks behave more like plastic than solid stone, making drilling nearly impossible. The pressure at the Earth's center is estimated to be about 3.6 million atmospheres. Because we cannot visit the core, researchers rely on seismic waves from earthquakes to map the interior. These waves change speed and direction as they pass through different layers, providing a 'sonogram' of our planet's hidden structure.