Old, Unrelated Clips Passed off as Visuals From Earthquake in Canada

• The first video showed a tower shaking between two skyscrapers.

• In the second clip, one could see a tower shaking due to wind and then shrinking in size.

• The third clip displayed a structure cracking at the bottom and finally collapsing. Following this, several people could be seen walking on the streets.

• A giant structure could be seen on top of a building in the fourth video.

(Swipe right to view all screenshots.)

Visuals from the first video.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)



Visuals from the second video.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)



Visuals from the third video.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)



Visuals from the fourth video.

(Source: Viral video/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)

• We performed a Google Lens search on the keyframes of the first video and came across a longer version of the clip shared on a TikTok handle named 'Nemya'.

• Using VPN to access the platform, we found that the video was shared on 20 October 2023 with a caption that said, "#cntower and all #towers in the wind. I posted another video of towers shaking. I think people like shaky things. Let me know if I’m wrong."

• On going through the user's posts, we found that they regularly post such videos. The user identified as a graphic designer and a creative manager.

• In fact, Team WebQoof found the second, third, and fourth clips posted on the same account.

• While the second video dated back to August 2023, the third and fourth clips were uploaded in March and April of this year respectively.

(Swipe right to view all images.)

This video was shared on 25 August 2023.

(Source: TikTok/Screenshot)



The video was shared on 5 April.

(Source: TikTok/Screenshot)



The caption carried a hashtag that said VFX.

(Source: TikTok/Screenshot)

• In an interview to an online portal, Nemya had talked about his tower video which went viral. He had clarified that his work is purely VFX and that he will continue posting such edits on his account.

• It should be noted that none of these videos had captions indicating that they were indeed captured during an earthquake.

• It showed several police cars on the streets and a vehicle which appeared to be damaged in the next frame.

• A simple Google Lens search directed us to the same video uploaded on an X (formerly Twitter) handle on 5 April.

• Its caption mentioned that a crane collapsed onto vehicles in Florida, United States.

Geolocating the place: Taking hints from the news report, we were able to locate the place where the accident took place.

• This made it clear that the visuals were not from Canada as claimed.

• This clip showed two buildings shaking as several people could be seen gathered at the streets and looking at them.

• When we performed a reverse image search, we found a longer version of the same video uploaded on TikTok on 5 April.

• We were not able to verify the location or context of this video.

• It showed a dashcam footage of cars shaking on what appeared to be a highway.

• Team WebQoof used the help of a Google Lens search and found the same visuals shared on a premium X handle.

• It was published on 3 April 2024 with a caption when translated to English said, "URGENT: Taiwan earthquake 'strongest in 25 years', Taipei seismology official says."

🇹🇼 | URGENTE: Terremoto en Taiwán es "el más fuerte en 25 años", dice un funcionario de sismología de Taipei. pic.twitter.com/bvUFyoOldH

• It showed footage of buildings and electric poles violently shaking.

• We found the same footage published on an Instagram handle using the help of a simple reverse image search.

• This clip was shared on 17 January and its caption when translated to English said, "The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Japan on January 1 , 2024 was captured on a car camera like this."

• Taking this forward, we searched in Japanese using the words "1月1日の地震日本" and came across similar visuals published on the official YouTube channel of 'MBS News'.

• This video showed a huge building collapsing onto the ground.

• On searching the keyframes using Google Lens, we were able to find the same visuals published on the official YouTube channel of 'Brut India'.

• It was shared on 9 September 2022 and it was titled, "In China, the government orders the demolition of buildings under construction."

• The final clip showed one building standing while others next to it could be seen collapsed on the ground.

• Using the help of a reverse image search, we were able to find an older version of the same video published on 3 September 2023.

• Its caption indicated the footage was recorded in China.

• To find more details about the video, we performed another set of reverse image search. A Google search led us to a video published on an unverified YouTube channel named 'China Observer'.

• It was live premiered on 30 August 2021 and was titled, "15 High Rise Buildings Turned to Rubble Within 45 Seconds | Unfinished Building | China Real Estate."

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