Old Videos From Türkiye And Philippines Peddled As Tajikistan Quake
BOOM found that the videos are from unrelated incidents and don't show the aftermath of earthquake in Tajikistan.
Two unrelated visuals of a baby being rescued from under some debris and an airport CCTV footage showing earthquake tremors are viral as videos from Tajikistan. BOOM found that the visuals are from Türkiye and Philippines respectively, and have no links to the Tajikistan earthquake.
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake shook the eastern region of Tajikistan during the early hours of February 23, 2023. The tremors of this quake were felt in China and other neighbouring countries as well.
Amid this, unrelated earthquake visuals from other regions are being peddled as videos from Tajikistan.
Video 1- Toddler being rescued from rubble
The first video is of a toddler being rescued from the debris of a destructed building. It is being shared with the caption, "Get well soon Tajikistan 🇹🇯 God help you #Tacikistan #earthquake"
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.
Click here and here for similar videos.
Taking a clue from "Tajikistan" written on the back of some green jackets worn by the rescuers, we searched for news reports about the incident and found an article by Russian news agency TASS published on February 13, 2023.
The report mentioned that rescuers from Tajikistan had saved a three year-old boy from the rubble caused due to the earthquake in Türkiye. The boy had spent more than 158 hours trapped under the debris.
With this information, we looked for videos on YouTube using Russian keywords and found the viral video uploaded on February 13.
Uploaded by TV Tojikiston, the national broadcaster of Tajikistan, the video's title read, "Tajik rescuers pulled a three-year-old boy out of the rubble / earthquake in Turkey". The description also mentions that the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defence of Tajikistan conducted this rescue operation in Türkiye.
A portion from the 0:11 mark has been clipped from the video and shared online.
On February 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Syria and Türkiye, resulting in a death toll of more than 45,000. Several countries have extended support through aid and rescue operations, including India.
Video 2- CCTV visuals from an airport
The second video showed CCTV footage from an airport in Philippines which was shared as a video from Tajikistan.
The video is shared on Twitter with the caption, "WATCH: #BNNTajikistan Reports. An #earthquake of about 7.2 magnitudes hit #Tajikistan at 8:37 a.m. (0037 GMT) on Thursday at a depth of 10 km (6 miles), the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said. #Earthquake #Tajikistan"
Click here to view.
Watch similar videos here and here.
Using some keywords, we were able to look for the same video uploaded on April 24, 2019 on YouTube.
The video has been flipped but shows the same visuals of people waiting at the airport and standing in a queue.
The caption reads, "Clark Airport Earthquake CCTV." Using this cue, we looked for more videos of the incident and found a tweet by CNN Philippines that includes visuals from different parts of Clark International Airport in Mabalacat, Philippines.
Portions from the 1:10-1:17 mark and 1:34-1:44 mark are the same as our viral video.
According to Reuters, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Philippines' main island of Luzon on April 22, 2019. The death toll of this disaster was estimated around 16.
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