Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
(This article was originally done in Urdu by Mohammed Zakariya)
At least 1,000 people have been killed and 1,500 others injured after a deadly earthquake measuring 6.1 in Richter Scale jolted the mountains of eastern Afghanistan on June 22.
Following the tragic news, several users took to social media to express condolences, and shared images and videos showing the after effect of the deadly quake. One such image, claiming to show a road that cracked open as a result of the earthquake in Afghanistan, is going viral on social media. Newschecker found this image to be old and unrelated to the incident.
The image has been shared on Twitter by user @AbAziz03 which has garnered 79 likes and 47 retweets along with the caption ‘The Situation right now in Afghanistan’.
Newschecker found a similar claim on Facebook and Instagram with different captions.
Newschecker also found several media websites using the same image as the viral image claiming to be recent images from Afghanistan.
Links to these websites are available here and here.
Fact Check /Verification
We started with a reverse image search of the viral image and found an article by UK based newspaper The Sun, titled “DEADLY QUAKE Pakistan earthquake today leaves 25 dead and hundreds injured as 6.0 tremor rocks Mirpur”. The report, uploaded on 24th September, 2019, carried the same viral image.
According to the report, a devastating 6.0 magnitude quake struck Mirpur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The epicentre of the quake was close to the city, the report revealed, adding that “According to state-run television, four children were among at least 25 dead following the quake which was sparked six miles beneath the Earth’s surface. The earthquake shook walls across the country and left people standing in the streets fearing further tremors.”
Newschecker also found a news report by the Mint titled “Death toll rises to 37 in Pok earthquake, as families bury loved ones” uploaded on 25th September, 2019. This report also carried the same image.
According to the article, “The quake was 10 kilometres deep and was felt in most of Punjab province, and some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The worst hit was Mirpur, Kashmir.”
Newschecker also found a tweet by user @Bahranifaisal1 uploaded on 24th September, 2019 which showed similar images of cracked roads after the earthquake. The tweet was shared along with the caption “Condition of road at Jatlan near Bhimber AJK after #earthquake. I hope everyone is safe”
Conclusion
Newschecker’s investigation reveals that the viral image claiming to be a recent image of Afghanistan in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake is actually from the 2019 earthquake in Mirpur, located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Result: False
Our Sources
The Sun report, DEADLY QUAKE Pakistan earthquake today leaves 25 dead and hundreds injured as 6.0 tremor rocks Mirpur, (24th September, 2019)
Mint report, Death toll rises to 37 in Pok earthquake, as families bury loved ones, (25th September, 2019)
Tweet by faisal Hussain bahrani
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Authors
Vaibhav is a part of Newschecker’s English team, where he spots and debunks all kinds of misinformation, making the rounds on the internet. A Journalism graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, he holds an M.A degree in Philosophy and an M.Phil from Delhi University.
