The set of images shows aftermath of an earthquake that jolted Pakistan on 24 September, 2019
An earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale jolted Jammu and Kashmir on 21 March, 2023.As per USGS, the earthquake hit 40 km SSE of Jurm Afghanistan, at a depth of 187 kilometres.There was no immediate report of any damage due to the quake, which was felt in Jammu and Kashmir and parts of northern India.
In this background, various social media users shared three photographs purporting to show extensive damage in Kashmir following the recent earthquake. The first depicts a large fissure in the road, while the second depicts a man standing in front of a decaying structure. Thirdly, a photograph of buildings fallen into pieces is also being shared as the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Kashmir. The caption of the post states “Heavy earthquake damage in Cachemira,Kashmir.”.
Fact Check-
A Google reverse image search on the first image of a massive road crack led us to an article published on 25 September, 2019 by Pakistani media Dawn.
The same viral image was there with a caption “MIRPUR (Azad Kashmir): A news cameraman films a damaged road after the earthquake on Tuesday. (Right) An aerial view of a collapsed bridge in Jatlan area”
The Dawn article also included the second image of a man dressed in blue standing in front of a decaying structure. The image was captioned “A man stands beside a collapsed building in an earthquake-hit area on the outskirts of Mirpur on Tuesday. (Right) People gather outside their office building after the earthquake was felt in Islamabad”
In further search we found more informations from The Guardian on 25 September, 2019. As per the report “At least 19 people have been killed and 300 injured after a shallow earthquake struck north-eastern Pakistan, tearing car-sized cracks into roads and heavily damaging infrastructure. The epicentre of the 5.2-magnitude quake was near the city of Mirpur, 22 kilometres (14 miles) north of the city of Jhelum along the boundary separating the agricultural heartland of Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir the US geological agency, USGS, said. The larger Kashmir region is a disputed and troubled territory with separate Indian and Pakistani regions. Mirpur is in the Pakistani-administered region, which is nominally self-governing.
A report by The Weather Channel also carried the second image to show the aftermath of an earthquake that jolted Pakistan on September 24, 2019.
A Google reverse image search on the third image brought us to a News 18 report headlined, “Aftermath Photos Show Damages After Earthquake in Pakistan” on 25 September, 2019. The report carried the viral image with the caption, “People walk on a road damaged by a powerful earthquake that struck in Jatlan near Mirpur, in northeast Pakistan.”
The same image was also featured in a CBC report on the September, 2019 earthquake in Pakistan.
Taking these evidences into account, we can clearly see that the images depict the aftermath of a 2019 earthquake in Pakistan. They were being falsely shared as damage after the recent earthquake in Kashmir.
Conclusion-
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the set of images to be False. The images shows aftermath of an earthquake that jolted Pakistan on 24 September, 2019. The photographs were taken at Mirpur, which is located in the Pakistani-administered district of Kashmir.
