Footage has emerged of an apparent asteroid exploding over southwest China that local reports say was as powerful as 540 tonnes of TNT. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />According to local reports, NASA confirmed the asteroid sighting on the Chinese social network Weibo. <br /><br />It was reportedly traveling at a speed of 14.6 km per second.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />It was unknown if any residents were affected.
