Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
Viral video shows the rubble of the buildings that collapsed due to the January 7 quake that struck a remote region of Tibet.
Fact
Photo carried in the viral video is from 2015 when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal.
A video carrying a social media post depicting the purported rubble of buildings collapsed due to a powerful earthquake that struck Nepal-Tibet border early in the morning on January 7 is going viral on TikTok.
More than 120 people have been killed and 188 others injured when a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck a remote region of Tibet at 6.52am Nepal Time, with tremors felt across the neighboring Nepal, Bhutan and parts of northern India.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @kingovmttny posted a video carrying an apparent screen-grab showing alleged rubble of the collapsed buildings in the aftermath of Tuesday’s powerful earthquake. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Earthquake update, death toll has reached 53, 62 people injured. Pray for Nepal to stay safe RIP.”
The video posted on January 7 has garnered 1702 likes, 105 users have shared it and 160 people have commented until the last count.
Newschecker found the image carried in the viral video to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker took a key frame of the image carried in the viral video and ran a reverse search on it. A Google reverse search threw up several news articles carrying the image resembling the viral video.
On checking a news article, dated April 28, 2015, published on First Post online, we found that the image showed the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu after the devastating earthquake that rocked Nepal on April 25, 2015.
Further, we checked another article, dated April 27, 2015, published on National Geographic online, and found an image carried in it identical to the viral video. The article about the devastation caused by the powerful earthquake noted that the image was captured in Bhaktapur by Associated Press.
We also looked up the Facebook page of Khabardabali.com and found the post matching the viral video. On checking the article by following the link, we found that the article regarding the recent quake at Nepal-Tibet border carried the old and unrelated photo of the collapsed buildings in Bhaktapur after the earthquake of April 25, 2015.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that the image carried in the viral video is from April 2015 when a powerful earthquake caused devastation in Nepal.
Conclusion
No, the image carried in the viral video doesn’t show the rubble of the buildings collapsed due to Tuesday’s earthquake at Sigatse in China’s Tibet. The image was captured in Bhaktapur in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake.
Result: False
Sources
First Post , April 28, 2015
National Geographic , April 27, 2015
Khabardabali.com, Jan 7, 2025
To give your feedback on any suspicious news and information or to check its authenticity write to us at [email protected] or whatsapp us on 9999499044. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill the form.
Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
