Old, unrelated clips passed off as visuals from the April 3 Taiwan earthquake

By: Rahul Adhikari
April 4 2024

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Videos on social media claim to show the recent earthquake in Taiwan. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim? 

On April 3, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit near the eastern county of Hualien, Taiwan, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 1,000. In the wake of the tragedy, several visuals surfaced on social media as the aftermath of the tremors. 

One such video shows a train shaking with the passengers seeking refuge on the platform. Another video shows the swaying of a Taiwanese river, according to claims doing the rounds on social media. The third captures the collapse of a building, showing people fleeing in panic, and was passed off as visuals from the recent earthquake. Archived versions of the viral posts sharing these can be accessed here, here, and here. 

However, the videos are unrelated to the recent natural disaster in Taiwan. They were captured during disasters that happened in the past.

How did we find the truth?

We conducted a reverse image search and relevant research on the three videos and found that they all captured disasters in different parts of the world long before the recent Taiwan earthquake. 

Video showing a shaking train

This video was shared on X (formerly Twitter) with a caption that read, "These are the horrible scenes of #earthquake in #Taiwan." on the same day, April 3, when a devastating earthquake hit Taiwan, implying that the video is from the recent earthquake. The post garnered over 46,000 views and 118 likes at the time of writing.

Screenshot of the viral video. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

A reverse-image search revealed that the video actually dates back to 2022. Chinese media outlet CGTN had published the clip on YouTube on September 18, 2022, with the title "M6.9 earthquake strikes Taiwan's Hualien: CENC." The description of the video stated that a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the southeast coast of Taiwan on March 18, 2022, and derailed train carriages, caused property damage, and sparked tsunami warnings. The viral video shows the impact of the earthquake on a train station.

NDTV also reported that a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan on March 18, 2022. The NDTV report shared a photo that showed visuals similar to that of the viral clip. The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Taitung.

It is evident that while the viral video is from Taiwan, it is completely unrelated to the recent earthquake.

Video depicting a swaying river

Sharing this video, on April 3, one X user wrote, "Video: A Taiwanese driver stopped their car during today's earthquake and observed river water swaying back and forth." It attracted 313,000 views and 1,100 likes on the social media platform. 
 

Screenshot of the viral clip. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

We found that several media outlets published the video in January, a few months before the recent quake in Taiwan. According to a report by Newsweek dated January 1, the video shows a river swaying from side to side due to tremors reaching 7.6 in magnitude in Western Japan. Dublin-based media intelligence agency Storyful News & Weather also published a longer version of the viral video on January 3 on its YouTube channel, stating that the earthquake in Japan caused the movement in canal water. 

CNN reported that at least 57 people died after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks jolted parts of Western Japan on January 1. The quake, which shook the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, triggered tsunami alerts as far away as eastern Russia. 

Clip showing a collapsing building

One X user shared, claiming that it shows a building collapse in Taiwan during the recent earthquake.

The video is viral on social media. (Source: X/Screesnohot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this video was actually captured during the devastating earthquake that hit Türkiye in February 2023. The original and longer version of the video was published on Reuters' YouTube channel on February 6, 2023, with the title 'Video shows building collapse after Türkiye quake.' According to the video report, the building collapsed after a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck central Türkiye and northwest Syria. 

BBC also published the same video in a news report on February 6, 2023, stating that it is from the Haliliye district in Sanliurfa, Türkiye. The footage shows a multi-story building collapsing hours after the deadly earthquake struck the region. The quake killed more than 50,000 people, reported The Guardian.

The verdict

Three old videos of earthquakes in different countries were passed off as visuals of the recent earthquake in Taiwan. We found that while one video is from Taiwan itself, the others are from Japan and Türkiye. All of them were captured long before the recent earthquake that hit Taiwan. Therefore, we have marked the claim as false.