A strong geomagnetic storm hit Earth early Thursday, but the planet’s magnetic field appeared to be absorbing the shock and it was unlikely to reach severe levels, US experts said. The storm was nevertheless expected to be the strongest in five years and has the potential to disrupt global positioning systems, airline flights, satellites and power grids, NASA and other US agencies warned. The leading edge of the coronal mass ejection — a burst of hot plasma and charged particles — that erupted from the Sun early Wednesday reached Earth on Thursday at 1045 GMT (5:45 am Eastern time in the United States), said an update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Predictions that the storm would reach a level three on a scale of five, or a “strong” level of solar radiation and geomagnetic storming, continue to “look justified,” the NOAA said. “So far the orientation of the magnetic field has been opposite of what is needed to cause the strongest storming. As the event progresses, that field will continue to change.”