Video shows buildings crumbling because of an “earthquake in Taiwan.”
No, these buildings didn’t crumble because of an earthquake in Taiwan
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This video largely shows footage from events unrelated to an earthquake in Taiwan. The footage of buildings crumbling comes from clips of controlled demolitions in China.
A recent Facebook post purports to show a series of video clips of the destruction wrought by an “earthquake in Taiwan.”
The video features dark billowing clouds of debris and buildings crumbling set to an audio track that’s been used in TikTok videos that have been altered to show people, animals and buildings magically materializing in clouds.
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
The video includes a shot of a building damaged in April in Hualien, Taiwan, in the biggest earthquake to hit the country in 25 years.
But the rest of the footage appears to show controlled demolitions in China several years ago and a 2020 eruption in Indonesia, when Mount Sinabung spewed thousands of feet of volcanic material into the sky.
We rate claims that this video shows buildings crumbling because of an earthquake in Taiwan False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Aug. 26, 2024
AFP, Old clips of collapsing skyscrapers resurface with false claim they show 2024 quake in Japan, Jan. 11, 2024
TMZ, Indonesian Volcano Mount Sinabung Erupts … Shoots Ash Three Miles High & Wide, Aug. 10, 2020
The Associated Press, Indonesia’s Sinabung volcano ejects towering column of ash, Aug. 10, 2020
X post, Aug. 10, 2020
PolitiFact, Look, up in the sky! It’s an angel, it’s a horse, it’s an altered video!, Jan. 20, 2023
