A Facebook (FB) video erroneously claimed that a magnitude 8 earthquake hit Taiwan last week. This is false. The clips in the video were taken two years ago.
On Nov. 14, a Filipino FB user published the two-minute video compilation with the headline:
“Earthquake magnitude 8 sa (in) Taiwan #cctovideonotmine #RepostedWithRespect”
With ominous music playing in the background, the video showed four different clips of people panicking and structures shaking, supposedly the impact of the quake.
Taiwan has not been hit by a major earthquake in recent months. A reverse image search revealed that three of the four clips shown in the video were taken two years ago.
According to the earthquake tracker of Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, there are no records of an earthquake with such magnitude or intensity striking the island country this past month.
All three clips were taken in September 2022 when a 6.8 magnitude tremor shook the southern regions of Taiwan.
The video with the untrue context came out after Severe Tropical Storm Ofel (international name: Usagi), downgraded to a tropical depression after barreling through the Philippines, made landfall in Taiwan last week.
The Facebook user’s spurious video has garnered over 155,000 reactions, 6,600 comments, 29,000 shares and 11 million views.
