A few pictures of damaged buildings are being shared on social media with a claim that they are tell-tale signs of the devastation caused by an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 which jolted Afghanistan recently along with neighbouring countries including India and Pakistan.
Here’s the link to the above post.
More posts can be seen here, here and here.
FACT CHECK
We fact-checked the images and found that they are all old.
We checked all the images individually and found the following-
Image 1
When we put the first image through Reverse Image Search, we found the same image in multiple news reports from January 2020.
According to a report published by Associated Press dated
The caption of the picture read: Rescue workers search on a collapsed building after a 6.8 earthquake struck Sivrice town in Elazig in eastern Turkey, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 rocked eastern Turkey on Friday, causing some buildings to collapse and killing at least 14 people, Turkish officials said.(IHA via AP)
Image 2
We found the second image in a report by Global News dated January 24, 2020, about the earthquake that jolted Turkey last year, claiming at least 18 lives, as per the initial news reports.
Image 3
A simple Reverse Image Search on the third picture led us to the same report by the Associated Press where we found the first image.
The picture description read: People look at a collapsed building after a 6.8 earthquake struck Elazig city centre in the eastern Turkey, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 rocked eastern Turkey on Friday, causing some buildings to collapse and killing at least four people, Turkish officials said. (IHA via AP)
Hence, from the above information, it is clear that the above pictures were taken in Turkey in 2020.
We also checked the official website and Social media handle of National Center for Seismology and found that an earthquake of magnitude 6.3 occurred in Afganistan on February 12, 2021, however, no reports of damage were found.
Earthquake of Magnitude:6.3, Occurred on 12-02-2021, 22:31:33 IST, Lat: 38.00 & Long: 73.58, Depth: 74 Km ,Location: 285km ENE of Fayzabad, Afghanistanfor more information https://t.co/PxX3VNYiFY @ndmaindia pic.twitter.com/2F8ndn7p5v
— National Center for Seismology (@NCS_Earthquake) February 12, 2021
Hence, we can conclude that the post in circulation is misleading.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 9799
Error: Contact form not found.
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos on our AI-powered smart news