A compilation video circulating among Filipinos bore old, unrelated clips being passed off as scenes from the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Taiwan last week.
Uploaded on Facebook (FB) on Jan. 25, the one-minute and three-second video carried at least 11 clips showing destroyed buildings and catastrophic scenes. The video carried the text:
“Taiwan earthquake today.”
It also carried this caption, which contained several hashtags unrelated to the earthquake incident, possibly with the aim of widening the video’s reach:
“Strong earthquake destroyed Taiwan today #taiwan #earthquake #disaster #fyp #reelsvideo #reels_clips #follow #reelsfacebook #foryoupage #viralshorts #foryou #electrician #fyp #manufacturing #workoutmotivation #explore #explorpage.”
Almost half of the clips in the compilation were from previous disasters and unconnected events. The last clips also appear to be generated through artificial intelligence (AI).
The first clip shows a collapsed building in Taiwan’s Hualien City after a magnitude 7.4 quake in April 2024. FB user Eason Peng Tourist Guide uploaded the original video on April 3, 2024.
The two clips that followed showed the demolition of abandoned buildings in China in 2021. These came from a video published by The Sun in 2024 – when the clips went viral again online.
Another footage of an illegal building being torn down was taken in China in 2020. Clips taken from another angle and uploaded in 2020 show the same scene.
A clip of towering ash plumes from the eruption of Mount Semeru in Indonesia in 2021 was also given a false context. The clip was uploaded by TikTok user Novanhendri510 on Dec. 4, 2021.
The video of a crashed plane is also not real and is just a tourist attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. TikTok user Aiairondi uploaded a similar clip showing the “crash site” on May 24, 2020.
The last clips were of blurry and oil painting-like footage of apocalyptic scenes that show hints of being generated through artificial intelligence.
The video with a false context circulated five days after a magnitude 6.0 quake jolted Yujing, Taiwan.
VERA Files Fact Check has debunked other misinformation related to previous earthquakes in the East Asian country.
The compilation video uploaded by the FB page Top3 (created on June 13, 2024) garnered 13,900 reactions, 4,000 comments, 33,000 shares and 6.8 million views.
