Old Video of Shaking Chandelier In Taiwan Went Viral in The Name Of Turkey Earthquake

The devastating earthquakes that rocked Turkey and Syria on 6 February have killed more than 22,000 people leaving tens of thousands of others injured. 

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday morning. More than 125 aftershocks have been recorded so far. 

Soon after the news made the headlines all around the world, distressing videos showing the aftermath of the quake started doing the rounds on social media. 

Fact Crescendo found many such videos were old and unrelated that have been shared with misleading information. 

In one such video, you can see a crystal chandelier shaking violently while people desperately clamouring in fear.  The 23-second clip has been shared with a claim that it has been recorded during the recent Turkey earthquake.

Original post – Facebook | Archive

FACT-CHECK

At the first glance, we notice people seen in the video do not look like Turkey or Syrian nationals. It casts doubt on the veracity of the claim made along with the video.

We performed a reverse image search on key-frames of the viral videos. It led us to similar videos available on YouTube for last five months. 

Formosa Television, a TV news channel based in Taiwan, uploaded this video on YouTube on 19 September 2022. 

According to it, the below video is from a restaurant in Kaohsiung city of Taiwan.

Reuters reported that a major 6.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in Taiwan for two consecutive days in last September. Taiwan’s fire department said one person had died and 146 were injured by the quake.

The earthquake caused the crystal chandelier in a restaurant in Kaohsiung to shake violently, just as the guests panicked and ran for their lives.

At that time, a female employee of the hotel calmly asked everyone to lean to the side, commanding a determined attitude, which made netizens say that this is really the calmest employee, reports Formosa TV. 

CONCLUSION

Hence, it is clear that the viral video of a chandelier shaking due to an earthquake is not from Turkey or Syria. It has been recorded in a restaurant in Taiwan last year. It has been falsely linked to a recent earthquake in Turkey. 

(If you also come across any such videos and images you think are falsely viral, send them on our WhatsApp Helpline (9049053770) or tag us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.)