Video of 'Myanmar earthquake aftermath' bears AI signs

A video showing damaged roads, buildings and a fire was shared on Facebook on March 29.

Text overlaid on the clip reads, "Myanmar Earthquake. 17M people Affected. God save all people. Pray"

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Screenshot of AI-generated video taken on March 31, 2025

The false clip surfaced one day after a 7.7-magnitude quake struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, followed minutes later by a 6.7-magnitude aftershock.

It was the biggest quake to hit the country in decades, according to geologists, with the disaster killing more than 2,000 people in the country (archived link).

The tremors collapsed buildings, downed bridges and buckled roads, with mass destruction seen in the city of more than 1.7 million people. 

The clip also swirled across TikTok and YouTube, and spread in countries such as Russia, China, Thailand, South Korea and India.

Another post falsely claims it shows Thailand, where a skyscraper collapsed after the quake, killing at least 11 people (archived link).

But it does not show actual scenes of devastation in Myanmar or Thailand.

The TikTok username "@the.360.report" can be seen in some of the circulated clips. 

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Screenshot of false posts with the username highlighted by AFP

A review of the account did not find the original video, but many of its videos bear the watermarks for a US-based company on generative AI technology Runway, and video generator platform MINIMAX Hailuo AI (archived here and here).

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Screenshots of videos uploaded on the TikTok account, with the watermarks highlighted by AFP

Shu Hu, head of Purdue University's Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab in the United States, told AFP on March 30 that he believes the video was AI-generated (archived link).

"The primary indication is that the individuals depicted in the video remain unnaturally stationary, whereas the fire visible in the distance exhibits realistic motion. This inconsistency strongly suggests artificial synthesis or manipulation," he explained.

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Screenshot of the post, with parts showing it was made with AI highlighted by the expert

An AFP journalist covering the earthquake in Myanmar confirmed they have not seen gaping holes in the streets like the one seen in the video anywhere.