After a devastating earthquake struck the remote Chinese region of Tibet, a photo of destroyed buildings and cars was widely circulated in social media posts falsely claiming to show the aftermath the disaster. The photo was actually taken in the Hatay region of Turkey after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in February 2023.
“Very strong earthquake M 7.1 China Nepal. At least 53 people are dead after an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 in China Tibet. My prediction succeeded,” read the X post written in Nepali and English posted on January 7.
He shared a stunning photo of collapsed buildings surrounded by rubble, next to a Turkish shop sign saying: “Mursaloğlu Cam Balkon”.
Spread the picture in news reports and social media posts in different languages - including English, Hindi, French and Vietnam — after the an earthquake devastated the remote Tibetan region of China on January 7, leaving at least 126 people dead (archive link).
Another 188 were injured and thousands of buildings were damaged in the earthquake that struck the rural, upper Tingri county, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Mount Everest near China's border with Nepal. Tremors were also felt in neighboring Nepal and India, although no casualties were reported.
The China Earthquake Network Center (CENC) measured the earthquake's magnitude as 6.8, while the US Geological Survey reported it as 7.1.
A screenshot of the falsely shared X post, captured on January 9, 2024
However, a background image search of the photo on Google found that it was published in a news report about a an earthquake on February 6, 2023 that killed more than 50,000 people across southeastern Turkey and parts of Syria (deposited here).
“Why we were caught off guard by the Kahramanmaraş earthquake,” read the headline article in the Architect's Newspaper from 31 March 2023 (archive link).
Kahramanmaras is a Turkish city located just 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the epicenter of the first major earthquake.
The story was written by Turkish urban designer Tayfun Kahraman, who explored lessons to be learned from the earthquake from an architectural and urban planning perspective.
The photo shared in fake social media posts was featured in the article with the caption: “Earthquake damage in İskenderun, a city by the Mediterranean Sea in Hatay region in Turkey (Çağlar Oskay/Unsplash)”.
A keyword search on Google found the original image published on the Unsplash stock image website by photographer Çağlar Oskay on February 24, 2023 (archive link).
The photo said it was taken in İskenderun on February 6, 2023.
AFP used the shop sign in the picture to geolocation e to 86 CD Ziya Gökalp in İskenderun (archive link).
Over 850,000 properties crisp in the first earthquake and the thousands of aftershocks (archive link).
A year later, hundreds of thousands are still displaced, many of them living in container cities.
