Old TikTok video falsely shared as family's 'last moments' before Turkey earthquake in 2023

This article is more than one year old.
Published on February 16, 2023 at 09:31
3 min read
By AFP Pakistan

Footage of a family huddled together as their living room appears to tremble violently is circulating in social media posts falsely linking it to the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6. The video was actually posted in January 2020 after a quake in Elazig in eastern Turkey killed more than 40 people. The family who posted the video said it was in tribute to victims of the tragedy.

"The last minutes of the Turkish family's life were caught on video. An online camera was installed to monitor the nanny," reads a Facebook post shared on February 7.

The video, which has more than 56,000 views, shows a man, woman and two children crouched on the ground in a living room as a chandelier swings back and forth and dust and debris fall down.

A strong 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkey and neighbouring Syria in the early hours of February 6, killing more than 39,000 people, according to the latest official figures released on February 14.

A screenshot of a post sharing the false claim, taken on February 11, 2023

The video was widely shared in similar posts on Facebook, including here, here and here, and on Twitter here, here and here.

The "AVIA.PRO" sticker embedded on the video refers to a military news portal that also shared the video in a false context.

Many social media users appeared to believe the footage showed a family killed by the earthquake.

"Painful to watch," one person commented on Facebook.

"God love them and may they rest in peace," another wrote.

TikTok tribute

A reverse image search of keyframes from the video on Google traced it to a TikTok post from January 27, 2020.

The post's caption says in Turkish: "May Allah grant patience to all those left behind in the earthquake and paradise to those who lost their lives".

Three days before the TikTok was posted, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Elazig in eastern Turkey, killing 41 people.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video shared in false posts (left) and the TikTok video posted in January 2020 (right):

Screenshots comparison of the video in the misleading post (L) and the TikTok video (R):

The TikTok video was posted by an account called @cilgin_family, who regularly post videos to their 290,000 followers.

AFP contacted the family but did not receive a reply.

Fact-checkers from India Today who debunked posts claiming the video showed the 2023 earthquake said the clip appeared to use special effects.

They pointed out that while dust and debris appeared to fall from the ceiling, none of it fell onto the sofa. The families' dark clothes also appear to remain dust-free.

India Today also found a YouTube video that the family posted which indicates the 'earthquake' scene was staged.

The video posted on February 6 -- the day of the quake that hit Turkey and Syria -- shows the same scene in the TikTok video, but with a sequence at the end showing the man and boy lying on cushions on the floor and with no debris.

Screenshot of the Cilgin Family's YouTube video indicating the 'earthquake' scene was staged

AFP has previously debunked a wave of false information about the Turkey earthquake.

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