Fact Check: Video showing clips of destruction due to earthquake makes a false claim that it is from recent tragedy in Taiwan

A strong earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit Japan's neighboring country, Taiwan on 3rd April & triggered tsunami alerts reaching Japan and Philippines , as media report. Several videos circulating on social media are claiming to show recent footage of the aftermath of a severe earthquake in Taiwan.

In one video, it is shown that strong waves rock boats back and forth and floodwater breaches the banks and gushes onto streets. In another clip, a train shakes while on the platform and in another, a building is seen collapsing.

In Clip- 1, strong waves are seen rocking boats back and forth and floodwater breaching the banks and gushing onto the streets. Several social media users shared it with a claim “BREAKING NEWS from #Taiwan It's shocking incident, happened in Taiwan ! See the Skyscraper condition and Heavy Earthquake! May Allah Protect their Life's #Japan #earthquake #Tsunami

In Clip 2 & 3, a few users shared a train is shaking while on the railway platform & a building collapsing. The users mentioned in their post “BREAKING NEWS from #Taiwan It's a shocking incident, happened in Taiwan! See the Skyscraper condition and Heavy Earthquake! May Allah protect their Life's #Japan #earthquake #Tsunami”. 

Fact Check: We found the claim is misleading. All the above videos shared on social media are not related to the recent earthquake in Taiwan.

Clip 1

During Google reverse image search of the first video wherein strong waves are seen rocking boats back and forth, with flood water breaching banks and gushing onto streets, we found the video was already on the internet before the recent earthquake.

A YouTube user Mi espico posted the same video on the account seven years ago.

Machine Eye, a digital creator, posted the same video with a description “Dear friends, what you are seeing now is not the special effects of film and television, but the tsunami caused by the largest earthquake in Japan's history in 2011”.

This proves that the video clip was captured during the Tsunami in Japan 2011.

Clip 2

During Google reverse image search, we found Umashakar Singh, a journalist, shared the same video on his X account on Sept. 18, 2022, with a caption:

“ताज़ा रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक़ ताइवान में आए भूकंप की तीव्रता 7.2 है। देखिए स्टेशन पर खड़ी ट्रेन भूकंप के दौरान कैसे हिचकोले लेने लगी”.

When translated, we found: “According to the latest reports, the intensity of the earthquake in Taiwan is 7.2. See how a train on the tracks at a station started trembled during the earthquake”. 

On September18, 2022, NDTV published an article: “Taiwan Earthquake Causes Trains to Tremble like Toys".  

Also on September19, 2022, ABP published an article “ ताइवान में भूकंप से खिलौने की तरह हिली ट्रेन, चौंकाने वाला Video वायरल”

This proves that the clip is from earthquake in Taiwan that occurred in 2022

Clip 3

During the Google reverse image, we found Reuters uploaded the same building collapsing video on February 6, 2023, along with a caption: “A dramatic video shows a building collapse in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Central Turkey and Northwest Syria”.

Furthermore, we searched for earthquakes in central Turkey. We found CBS News posted the same video on February 7, 2023, with a headline “Video shows building collapse in Turkey as earthquake strikes”.

This proves that the clips were shot during the earthquake in Central Turkey.

Hence, the claim is Misleading, the videos are old and unrelated to the recent earthquake in Taiwan.