Dramatic earthquake video is from Japan, not 2025 in Tibet | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Tibet earthquake in January 2025
A Jan. 7 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows buildings collapsing amid intense shaking.
"Massive Earthquake 7.1 strikes Nepal-Tibet border," the post's caption reads in part.
It was shared more than 300 times in a day. Another Facebook post with the same video was shared more than 2,000 times before it was deleted.
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Our rating: False
The video is miscaptioned. It was posted nearly a year before the Jan. 7 earthquake that hit Tibet. It shows an earthquake that struck Japan in January 2024.
Video predates 2025 earthquake in Tibet
At least 126 people were killed in Tibet after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook the western China region on Jan. 7, the Associated Press reported. The earthquake's epicenter was about 50 miles from the border with Nepal, where shaking was also felt, the article said.
But the video in the Facebook post doesn't show this earthquake. It shows an earthquake that struck western Japan in 2024.
11Alive, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, shared the video on YouTube on Feb. 5, 2024, and reported that it shows an earthquake that hit Japan on Jan. 1, 2024. The Japan News likewise reported that the video shows dashcam footage of shaking in Ishikawa, a prefecture in Japan, from the 7.5-magnitude Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year's Day 2024.
Fact check: Viral video purporting to show Dec. 5 earthquake predates it by months
Paste BN has debunked an array of social media claims involving natural disasters, including false assertions that a video shows a California earthquake in December 2024, that photos show the aftermath of a Taiwan earthquake in April 2024 and that a video montage shows Hurricane Helene damage in Florida.
Paste BN reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources
- 11Alive (YouTube), Feb. 5, 2024, Dashcam video of strong Japan earthquake in January, tsunami
- The Japan News, Feb. 7, 2024, Dashcam Captures Images amid Japan’s Noto Peninsula Earthquake; Group Hopes Video Helps Public Prep for Future Disasters
- The Associated Press, Jan. 8, Tents arrive for survivors of a quake that killed 126 in freezing, high-altitude Tibet
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