Fact Check: Tibet earthquake’s video goes viral? No, it's old footage from Japan
Footage of an earthquake has gone viral as visuals of the recent natural disaster in Tibet.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 13 Jan 2025 5:34 PM IST
Claim: The video shows a massive earthquake hitting Tibet in January 2025 that left 126 dead and several more injured.
Fact: The claim is false. The video showed a January 2024 earthquake in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture.
Hyderabad: A powerful earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet, claiming the lives of at least 126 people and leaving more than 100 injured. The tremors were also felt in Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India. According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake registered 7.1 on the Richter scale, whereas the China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC) recorded its magnitude as 6.8.
Amid this incident, a video claiming to show the earthquake in Tibet went viral on social media. The video was shared by an X user with the caption: “Earthquake 8.0 magnitude struck Tibet, death toll reaches 126, about 200 people are also reported injured.” (Archive)
The 59-second clip shows extensive destruction, with buildings, houses and vehicles falling on the road with smoke rising in the aftermath.
Similar claims can be found here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video shows an earthquake that occurred in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture in January 2024.
A reverse image search led to a YouTube video titled ‘Suzu and Horyu immediately after the earthquake [Hokkoku Shimbun]’, uploaded on February 2, 2024.
The viral visuals were also present in this video, confirming that the footage is from a past event in Japan. Here’s a comparison of visuals from both videos.
Further investigation showed that Suzu is a city in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, and Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple in Nara Prefecture.
We also found a report by Yomiuri Shimbun Online published on February 6, 2024.
The report included screenshots of the same video. It detailed the event as a devastating earthquake on January 1, 2024, in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture. The footage was captured by a dashcam from a welfare shuttle car. The quake caused buildings to collapse and widespread damage.
NASA Earth Observatory also documented the earthquake in an article titled ‘Earthquake Lifts the Noto Peninsula’, dated January 2, 2024. The report described it as the strongest earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture since 1885, resulting in severe damage and fires in the towns of Suzu, Noto, Wajima and Anamizu.
Therefore, the claim that the video shows the massive earthquake in Tibet is false. The video is from a January 2024 earthquake in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture.
