Spectacular fireball meteor sighted over China

Footage has emerged of an apparent asteroid exploding over southwest China that local reports say was as powerful as 540 tonnes of TNT.

In mobile phone footage filmed in various locations in Shangri-La County, Yunnan Province, on October 4, the apparent asteroid can be seen falling towards Earth and exploding in the sky.

"The fireball was caused by a very small heavenly body, compared with an asteroid," researcher Wang Xiaobin of the Yunnan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences told the Xinhua news agency.

According to local reports, NASA confirmed the asteroid sighting on the Chinese social network Weibo.

It was reportedly traveling at a speed of 14.6 km per second.

The incident, which happened at around 8 p.m. local time, stunned local residents who were viewing the full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It was unknown if any residents were affected.