Video of Beirut explosion passed off as nuclear explosion in Turkey after quake

Hyderabad: A video of a massive explosion is doing the rounds on social media with the claim that it shows a nuclear explosion in Turkey following to the recent earthquake.

The claim comes after an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude knocked down multiple buildings in southeast Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February. The death toll as of now stands at around 3,400.

A Twitter user shared the video and wrote, “BREAKING: Nuclear plant explode due to #Earthquake in #Turkey.”

Click here to see the post.

Several other Twitter users shared the video and made the same claim. (Click here, here and here to see the post.)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video dates back to 2020 and shows an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.

On performing a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found the extended version of the video published by Sky News on 6 August 2020. According to the description, the video shows an explosion that ripped through the port in Beirut, Lebanon. It also said around 3,00,000 people were left homeless, at least 130 killed, and thousands were injured.

On 8 August 2020, Global News published a video with the same visual. The video is titled “Beirut explosion: Video shows new angle of the massive blast.” It said the explosion took place because of the storage of fireworks and ammonium nitrate in the same warehouse.

Aljazeera, in a report published on 4 August 2020, explained the reason behind the explosion. It said 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in a warehouse at the Beirut port for six years. A fire caused the detonation of the ammonium nitrate, which led to a huge explosion.

It is evident that the video shows a non-nuclear explosion at a port in Beirut. Hence, we conclude that the claim that the video shows a nuclear explosion in Turkey following the recent earthquake is false.