Old, Unrelated Video Passed Off As Recent Visuals of Earthquake in Philippines

Fact-Check | The video is old and is unrelated to Philippines. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing the ceiling of a badminton court collapsing is being shared as a recent incident from the Philippines.

The claim: Social media users shared the video with a caption that said, "Video of the damage caused by the #earthquake that has hit #Philippines."

An archive of the post can be seen here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

The video had garnered around 76,000 views on the platform when this report was being written.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)

Are these claims true?: Neither is the video recent nor is it from the Philippines. The video could be traced back to at least September 2022 and is reportedly from Taiwan.

How did we find that out?: A simple Google Lens search on the keyframes led us to the same video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Cable News Network (CNN).

• The video was uploaded on 18 September 2022.

• Its description said, "Surveillance footage captured the moment a gymnasium collapsed following a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in southeastern Taiwan."

• At around the 0:54 timestamp, one can see visuals similar to the viral one playing.

• The Quint, too, had shared similar visuals on its YouTube channel, showing the ceiling coming down during the earthquake.

• According to the video's description, an earthquake of 6.9 magnitude struck southeast Taiwan on 18 September, causing widespread damage.

News reports: A report published in South China Morning Post (SCMP) said that the earthquake damaged the badminton court ceiling, which was located in the northern municipality of Taoyuan.

• The quake's epicentre was near Chishang township, almost 300 kilometres away from the badminton court.

• On person was injured during the incident.

The report was published on 20 September 2022.

(Source: SCMP/Screenshot)

About recent earthquakes in Philippines: As per an Associated Press (AP) report, a powerful earthquake of 7.6 magnitude hit the southern Philippine coast on 2 December.

• The Philippine authorities issued a tsunami warning, which led to many villagers fleeing their homes.

Conclusion: The video is old and unrelated to the recent earthquakes that struck Philippines.

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