Photo shows aftermath of New Zealand earthquake in September 2010 -- not in March 2023
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 29, 2023 at 03:01
- 2 min read
- By AFP Bangladesh
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"This time New Zealand is rattled by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake," reads the Bengali text overlay on the photo posted by Bangladeshi television channel NTV on Facebook on March 16, 2023.
The US Geological Survey reported a 7.0-magnitude earthquake near New Zealand's Kermadec Islands on the same day.
The islands are mostly uninhabited except for a government conservation field station.
The same NTV photo was shared alongside a similar claim in Facebook posts here and here.
Many social media users responded to the misleading post with comments such as "May Allah save us all" and "May Allah forgive us", suggesting they believed the photo was recent.
A reverse image search on Google, however, found it shows a building destroyed by the earthquake that hit Christchurch in September 2010.
The photo was published by Reuters news agency here.
"A council worker surveys the damage to a building in central Christchurch after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the city September 4, 2010," reads the photo's caption.
"Authorities declared a state of emergency after the earthquake hit New Zealand's second biggest city early on Saturday, bringing down power lines, ripping up roads and wrecking building facades, but authorities reported no deaths."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (left) and the original photo from Reuters (right):
A photo showing the same building from a slightly different angle was published by AFP here on September 4, 2010.
The photo's caption partly reads: "A picture shows the wrecked facade of the Westende Jewellers and rubble blocking a street after a powerful 7.0 earthquake in Christchurch on September 4, 2010."
Below is a screenshot of AFP's photo showing the destroyed building:
The September 2010 earthquake -- considered among the strongest in New Zealand -- caused widespread damage but no deaths.
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