Do some videos circulating online show the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck California on December 5, 2024? No, that's not true: Several videos posted online were mislabeled as showing California when they were actually filmed in other locations during past earthquakes. In reality the old footage ranged from Taiwan to Anchorage, Alaska, to Japan.
One example of a recycled earthquake video appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 5, 2024. It was captioned:
The striking moments of the 7-magnitude earthquake that occurred in the US state of California were captured on camera! The strength of the earthquake once again reveals how impressive nature can be.
#deprem earthquake #earthquake Tsunami #California california #Tsunami deprem
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Dec 06 17:12:30 2024 UTC)
The scene above does not show California. This video was initially posted on TikTok (archived here) by @drsamtrang on April 6, 2024, just a few days after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan. The epicenter of the April 3, 2024, quake (archived here) was near Hualien City, about 100 miles to the south of Taipei City, where @drsamtrang filmed the video from a hotel. He captioned the video:
Taipei Earthquake 2024
This was one of the scariest few minutes of my life. I was trying to figure out where to protect myself in my hotel room. I started to move towards the center of the building once the big jolts slowed down. After the first huge jolt, there were numerous aftershocks. I was on the 15th floor and the building swaying is something I am still trying to work through; it is as if I have sea legs. I'm so grateful my friends and I are safe. Praying for the injuries, displaced, and decreased.Date: April 3, 2024
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Time 7:58 am#taiwanearthquake #taipeiearthquake #taipei #taiwan #sealegs #taiwanearthquake2024 #taipeiearthquake2024
In the opening seconds of @drsamtrang's video (below left), the Taipei 101 skyscraper (inset below right) can be seen far in the distance, silhouetted tall above the rest of the city and the distant hills. This leaves no question about the city pictured. It was the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010. The building has a "tuned mass damper" suspended between the 87th and 92nd floors indoors to help steady the building in strong winds and earthquakes.
(Source: Lead Stories composite image with TikTok and Wikimedia.org screenshots taken on Fri Dec 06 23:12:27 2024 UTC)
Another instance of old footage that was misrepresented as the California quake (pictured below left) was posted on X (archived here) by @LithiumClips on December 5, 2024, with the caption:
Footage of the inside of a California home during the 7.0 magnitude earthquake😳 #earthquake
This footage (pictured below right) had been posted on X (archived here) by an Alaskan businessman, James Easton, years earlier on November 30, 2018. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake (archived here) hit that day with an epicenter near Anchorage. Easton's video post was followed by a photo of his fish tank as a concerned commenter had asked about his fish. He reported that the tank only lost about an inch of water. His video was captioned:
#akearthquake #Earthquake .
@Ch2KTUU
just a little bit shaken this morning.
(Source: Lead Stories composite image with X screenshots taken on Fri Dec 06 23:12:32 2024 UTC)
One more misidentified earthquake video (pictured below left) was posted on X (archived here) on December 5, 2024, by @localclipsplug with the caption:
🚨 Footage from the 21st floor in a Penthouse in San Francisco, California being hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake 👀🙏 #earthquake
This video does not show San Francisco in 2024. It was posted on YouTube on February 15, 2021, by RM Media, a channel that shares licensed clips from Junkin Media. The video (pictured below right) was titled "Water Spills Out of Bathtub as it Shakes Rigorously During Earthquake in Japan." A 7.3-magnitude earthquake (archived here) occurred days earlier, on February 13, 2021, in Fukushima, Japan.
(Source: X and YouTube screenshots taken on Sat Dec 7 00:23:20 2024 UTC)
At the time this was written, USA Today had reviewed the same claim.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving earthquakes can be found here.
