Video of damaged Philippine mall predates June 2026 earthquake
- Published on June 12, 2026 at 05:11
- 2 min read
- By Pasika KHERNAMNUOY, AFP Thailand, AFP Brazil
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Philippines in June 2026, toppling buildings and prompting a shopping mall to close for safety inspections, but a video shared online that appears to show shoppers scrambling for safety does not depict the recent disaster. The footage was filmed more than two years ago during another earthquake in Mindanao and AFP also distributed a similar video in November 2023.
"Shocking scenes from the Philippines following a magnitude-7.8 earthquake that occurred earlier this morning," reads the Thai-language caption of an X video posted on June 8, 2026.
The clip appears to show people screaming and running for cover as debris falls inside a shopping mall.
A 7.8-magnitude tremor just off the coast of Mindanao on June 8 brought down buildings, triggered landslides and set off tsunami warnings across a swathe of the southern island (archived link). The number of fatalities has risen to more than 40.
The clip spread alongside similar claims across Facebook, Threads, YouTube, and X in several languages.
But the video is old and does not show the recent quake.
A reverse image search and keyword searches on Google led to the same footage posted on X on November 17, 2023 (archived link).
The clip was posted by the user "volcaholic1," whose handle can be seen in the lower-left corner of the falsely shared video.
Its caption reads: "Video and images emerging after a M6.7 earthquake struck Mindanao in the #Philippines. Terrifying."
A powerful 6.7-magnitude quake hit the Mindanao region in November 2023, causing buildings to shake and part of a ceiling inside a shopping mall to collapse (archived link).
AFP geolocated the footage of the interior to SM City General Santos, a shopping mall located in General Santos City in Mindanao (archived link).
AFP also distributed a similar video filmed from a different angle showing the moment the November 2023 earthquake struck the mall (archived link).
The same mall, SM City General Santos, was temporarily closed for safety inspections when the quake struck on June 8, 2026 (archived link).
Footage published in local media outlet Manila Bulletin and media organisation Channel News Asia showed exterior damage of the structure (archived here and here).
An AFP photo also shows similar impact on the mall (archived link).
The November 2023 footage was also misleadingly used to depict an entirely different quake a month later, which AFP had also debunked.
AFP has previously fact-checked misinformation related to earthquakes in the Philippines.
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