Blinken surveys Turkey earthquake damage, pledges $100M more in aid
Antony Blinken pledged a further $100 million in assistance to the region after President Joe Biden pledged $85 million soon after the earthquake hit.
Patrick Colson-Price, USA TODAY
The claim: Video shows cracks in the ground that formed after earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
A Facebook video shows aerial footage of what appears to be large fissures or cracks in the Earth.
“The day the Earth moved- This’s the fracture of earth’s crust after earthquake,” reads the video’s caption in the Feb. 20 post (direct link, archive link). “Two cracks in the Earth’s crust opened in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey on Monday, Feb. 6.”
The video was viewed more than 3,000 times in three days.
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Our rating: False
This footage shows a countryside in China, not Turkey. Similar footage of the formations was uploaded to YouTube and Instagram more than a year prior to the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Video uploaded to YouTube prior to earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
Powerful earthquakes recently struck Turkey and Syria killing tens of thousands of people. However, the Facebook video is not related to this disaster.
Footage showing the formations in the video was posted to Instagram in 2021, more than a year before the recent earthquakes occurred.
Two videos showing similar footage were also uploaded to YouTube in November 2022. The titles of the videos, which are written in Chinese, say that the footage was taken in Pinglu County, in China.
Associated Press also reported that the footage was captured in China.
Fact check: Video shows 2018 tsunami in Indonesia, not from recent earthquakes in Turkey
The recent earthquakes did cause ground fissures, according to Reuters, but images of the damage reviewed by USA TODAY did not look anything like the formations in the Facebook video.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users who shared the post for comment.
The video was also debunked by the Associated Press.
Our fact-check sources:
- Fish travel (YouTube), Nov. 19, 2022, It’s incredible! (Google translation)
- Movie and TV (Youtube), Nov. 3, 2022, “The Great Ravine in Pinglu County” A chasm about 10 kilometers long is drawn on the entire plain. What kind of force divides it into two parts? (Google translation)
- USA TODAY, Feb. 21, Stunned residents face new trauma after another earthquake hits Turkey, Syria: Updates
- Djpashur, Dec. 5, 2021, Instagram
- Reuters, Feb. 10, Turkey earthquake drone footage shows fissures slicing through land
- AP, Feb. 21, Video shows river erosion in China, not Turkey earthquake aftermath
- India Today, Feb. 22, Fact Check: This video doesn’t show deep cracks caused by recent tremors in Turkey and Syria
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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
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