Fact Check: Media of ecological disasters falsely shared as visuals of Wayanad landslide
The image is from the 2001 El Salvador earthquake, and the video is from a landslide during construction on the National Highway in Adimali.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 1 Aug 2024 3:13 PM GMT
Claim: Viral media shows the aftermath of the Wayanad landslide in 2024.
Fact: The claim is false. The image is of a landslide from the 2001 El Salvador earthquake; the video is from the landslide in Adimali
Hyderabad: Amid the devastating Wayanad landslide, where the death toll has climbed to 276 and is expected to rise as rescuers continue to sift through debris, an image is being shared online claiming to show scenes from the disaster.
An X user shared the image with the caption: āToday Wayanad, tomorrow it may be Tamilnadu - Nilgiris or Kanyakumari. Stop blasting rocks for your personal gain in the Western Ghats! #WayanadDisaster #WayanadLandslide #westernghats.ā (Archive)
A similar post can be seen here. (Archive)
Even news media reports have used this photo to report on the Wayanad landslide.
WNN Africa used the photo for their article titled āWayanad Landslides: The Dire Consequences of Climate Change, Unsustainable Mining, and Deforestation.ā (Archive)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false.
Image of mudslide
A reverse image search led to the same photo in The Guardian gallery titled āEl Salvador earthquake.ā The caption reads: āDestruction in Santa Tecla, near San Salvador, as seen from the air after the earthquake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale and caused a massive landslide.ā
A keyword search revealed a report by BBC on January 16, 2001, titled āQuake mudslides blamed on deforestation.ā
According to the report, rescue workers said that the reason 500 houses and over 1,000 people were buried under a huge landslide was that the mountains overlooking Las Colinas had been deforested and cut away by building developers, despite protests and lawsuits.
Further, we found NASAās write-up titled āGridding the Risks of Natural Disastersā from February 2006 featuring the same photo.
The caption reads: āThe 2001 El Salvador earthquake-induced landslide, located in a neighbourhood near Santa Tecla, El Salvador, buried numerous homes under tons of earth. The Hotspots report identified El Salvador as being at high risk for landslides, earthquakes, floods, and cyclones.ā
Video of landslide
Another video shared as a visual from the recent Wayanad landslide has gone viral.
An X user shared a video with the caption ā#WayanadLandslide #WayanadDisaster #Keralaā claiming to show the recent Wayanad landslide. (Archive)
Similar posts can be seen here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
NewsMeter found that the claim is false.
First, the videoās date is marked as ā11 June 2024ā, indicating it is an old video. We found that the logo of the Malayalam news channel Kairali News is visible in the video.
The original video from their official YouTube channel, dated June 11, 2024, is titled āWorker who was caught in a landslide during the construction of the National Highway in Adimali was rescued.ā
Further, a keyword search revealed a report by The Hindu on June 11, 2024, titled āTwo workers rescued after soil embankment falls on them.ā
According to the report, a huge portion of an embankment fell on two workers who were engaged in the construction of a drainage and protection wall of the Kochi-Dhanushkodi National Highway. The two workers who were rescued are Jose, a resident of Marthandam, and Kaliswami, a resident of Thenkasi in Tamil Nadu.
Hence, the claims that the visuals are from the recent Wayanad landslide are false. The image is from the 2001 El Salvador earthquake, and the video is from a landslide during construction on the National Highway in Adimali.
