Old Japan video misrepresented as Morocco earthquake

Published on September 15, 2023 at 23:10
2 min read
By AFP USA

Social media posts claim a video of a home's interior shaking shows an earthquake that hit Morocco in September 2023. This is false; the clip was taken in Oita, Japan in January 2022.

"An #earthquake hit Morocco in the region of Marrakech at the magnitude of 6.8 on Richter. #earthquake #Terremoto #Temblor #Morocco #Marruecos #USAGER," says a September 9, 2023 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The post includes a clip of someone filming inside a house during what appears to be an earthquake.

Screenshot of a post on X taken September 15, 2023

Other versions of the footage circulated on YouTube after a powerful earthquake struck 45 miles southwest of tourist hub Marrakesh on September 8, wiping out entire villages in the hills of the Atlas mountains. Nearly 3,000 people have been killed.

But the video shared on social media is old and unrelated to the disaster.

A reverse image search surfaced a January 2022 Facebook post crediting the video to "gingatandx." AFP matched the username to an X account that posted the video with a Japanese caption on January 21 of that year (archived here).

地震怖かったーーー

これで震度5強ですか。。。

キッチンにあったほんだしの瓶も驚いて転がってきた笑笑#地震 pic.twitter.com/YgHG9kphWY
— ぎんがりあん★げそすたー (@gingatandx) January 21, 2022

The post coincides with the date of an earthquake in southwest Japan that caused minor injuries, but no major damage.

The X account's bio says it is based in the Oita prefecture. The account also links to a YouTube channel in which the same home interior appears in another video posted a year before the earthquake clip.

Screenshot taken September 15, 2023 from YouTube, with elements highlighted by AFP

Screenshot taken September 15, 2023 from X, with elements highlighted by AFP

AFP has debunked other claims about the Morocco earthquake here.

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