On 07 January 2025, Tibet experienced its deadliest earthquake in recent years. The 7.1 magnitude quake struck at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) and was felt in Nepal, parts of India, and neighbouring Tibet. At least 126 people were killed, and over 400 were rescued. Amidst this, several photos and videos going viral on social media (here, here, here, and here), claiming to show visuals from this Tibet earthquake. Let’s verify the claims made in the posts through this article.
Claim: The visuals show the Tibet earthquake of 07 January 2025.
Fact: None of these visuals are related to the Tibet earthquake on 07 January 2025. The viral photo is from Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey, showing the aftermath of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on 06 February 2023. The first video shows the Nepal earthquake in the Tripureshowr district of Kathmandu on 26 April 2015. The second video documents the aftermath of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Suzu City, Japan, on 02 March 2023. The third video depicts the earthquake in Taiwan on 03 April 2024. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Photo
A Google Lens search of the viral photo led us to a report by Deezan (archived), dated 02 March 2023, which featured the same image. The report detailed the views of Turkish architects following the February 2023 earthquake in Turkey and credited the photo to Çağlar Oskay via Unsplash.
We found that the image was published on Unsplash (archived) on 24 February 2023. The description stated: “Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey 06 February 2023: In Iskenderun, one of the areas most affected by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş, many buildings were destroyed, and people lost their lives.”
The viral photo, taken in Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey shows the aftermath of the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on 06 February 2023. It is unrelated to the Tibet earthquake on 07 January 2025.
Video 1
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to an extended version of the video (archived), on the “Bizmandu” YouTube channel published on 30 April 2015, titled “Tripureshowr: CCTV Footage of Nepal Earthquake.”
A Google search using relevant keywords led us to a report (archived) by The Guardian, dated 30 April 2015. The report featured the viral video and stated: “CCTV footage shows the moment the Nepal earthquake hit the Tripureshowr district of southwest Kathmandu on 26 April 2015. The power of the quake brings down a brick structure onto a busy roundabout…”
The viral video shows CCTV footage capturing the moment the Nepal earthquake struck the Tripureshowr district of southwest Kathmandu on 26 April 2015. It is unrelated to the Tibet earthquake on 07 January 2025.
Video 2
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led to a news report (archived) featuring the same video on the “ANN News” YouTube channel published on 02 February 2024. Titled “The moment of collapse captured on dashcam, tsunami on rear camera Super J Channel 02 February 2024.”
According to the report, the video documents the aftermath of the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on 02 March 2023. At 4:10 pm, intense shaking caused multiple houses to collapse, including one captured on a car’s dashcam. A tsunami warning was issued shortly after, and by 4:47 pm, the car was engulfed by the tsunami. The footage highlights the widespread destruction and the struggles of residents to evacuate, underscoring the importance of earthquake-resistant construction.
The viral video documents the aftermath of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that struck Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on 02 March 2023. It is unrelated to the Tibet earthquake on 07 January 2025.
Video 3
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led to a Sky News report (archived) on their YouTube channel, dated 03 April 2024. The report featured the same video of the tilted building, captured from a different angle, and was titled “Taiwan earthquake: Swaying swimming pools and wonky buildings captured on video.” The description of the video indicated that the visuals depicted the aftermath of an earthquake in Taiwan.
The semi-collapsed, tilted building was identified as being in Hualien, Taiwan. Further keyword searches led to a Japan Times report (archived) dated 04 April 2024, which featured a different angle of the same building. According to a report, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occurred on 03 April 2024 in Taiwan, resulting in nine fatalities and over 1,000 injuries.
The video shows the earthquake that occurred in Taiwan on 03 April 2024 and is not related to the Tibet earthquake on 07 January 2025.
To sum up, old and unrelated photos and videos are falsely shared as that of recent Tibet Earthquake.
