Old earthquake clips resurface with false claim they show December 2023 tremor in Philippines
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on December 19, 2023 at 08:25
- 5 min read
- By Tommy WANG, AFP Hong Kong
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"Breaking: magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the coast of the Philippines," reads part of a simplified Chinese post shared here on X on December 3, 2023.
The post, which has been shared more than 140 times, says there were about 20 aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4.9 to 6.4 in the same area over a three-hour period.
"The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, depending on the magnitude and location of the earthquake, a tsunami could hit the southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia, Palau and Malaysia."
Four clips appearing to show the strength of the earthquake or its aftershocks are attached to the post.
The clips were also shared -- sometimes separately -- elsewhere on X here, here and here, on TikTok here, and on Facebook here.
The clips were also shared in other languages, including English here and here, Spanish and Turkish.
They were shared shortly after the southern Philippines was rocked by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake on December 2, 2023.
The US Geological Survey said it struck off the coast of Mindanao island and was followed by four major aftershocks of magnitudes exceeding 6.0 over several hours.
The initial quake triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific region and sent residents along the east coast of Mindanao fleeing buildings, evacuating a hospital and seeking higher ground.
The clips that have been circulating online after this earthquake, however, are old and unrelated to the recent tremor.
Bathtub clip
A keyword search found the clip showing water being thrown out of a bathtub was uploaded on the US video licensing website Jukin Media and The Weather Channel in February 2021 (archived links here and here).
The video is titled, "Water Spills Out of Bathtub as it Shakes Rigorously During Earthquake in Japan". Its description says it was posted on February 14, 2021 and was filmed in Chiba, Japan.
Its caption reads: "This bathroom on the 20th floor of the building had a bathtub full of water when the earthquake hit Japan. Suddenly, it started shaking rigorously, and the bathtub's water spilled all over the place. The view of the shaking building looked scary."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false post (left) and the video on the Jukin Media website (right):
The 7.3-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in Japan injured dozens of people on February 14, 2021, AFP reported.
Japan's meteorological agency said the quake, which hit at a depth of 60 kilometres (37 miles) in the Pacific off Fukushima, was considered an aftershock of the massive tremor in 2011.
Roof collapse video
Multiple keyword searches on Google found the clip of the roof collapsing on indoor badminton courts used in a report by Taiwanese public broadcaster Public Television Service (PTS) on September 19, 2022.
The report can be found on PTS' official YouTube channel here (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false post (left) and the video uploaded by Public Television Service (right):
The 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck southeastern Taiwan on September 18, 2022 killed at least one person, brought down a handful of buildings and tore up roads.
CNN and local broadcaster Taiwan Television also used the footage in reports from September 2022 (archived links here and here).
Quake in November 2023
The remaining two clips used in the false X post originally circulated after a 6.7-magnitude quake struck the Mindanao region on November 17, 2023.
A keyword search using the text overlaid on the clip led to the same video showing a crane falling from a high-rise building uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the UK's ITV News here on November 19 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false post (left) and the video uploaded by ITV News (right):
Subsequent keyword searches led to the same footage shared on the BBC website here and the same incident filmed from a different angle shared by US broadcaster ABC News here (archived links here and here).
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the final video, a compilation of clips showing people screaming in terror and running for safety as debris falls from the ceiling of what appears to be a shopping mall, was taken from a report on November 17 by Spanish newspaper Marca (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clips in the compilation shared in the false post (left) and the video uploaded by Marca (right):
The clips used in this video were also used by AFP and Filipino media outlets Philstar News and One News on November 17 (archived links here, here and here).
The reports say the clips were taken from inside a shopping mall in southern General Santos City (archived link).
Misinformation is easily spread when natural disasters strike, and AFP has previously debunked false claims related to earthquakes in the Philippines here, here and here.
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