Old Image From El Salvadore Is Going Viral As The Wayanad Landslides.

In the early hours of 30 July 2024, massive landslides hit Kerala’s Wayanad district burying a large area under debris which claimed over 275 lives. The Kerala State government has decided to ask the central government to declare the Wayanad landslides as a national disaster. On this backdrop, an image of a landslide hit area is going viral on social media claiming it to be Mundakkai in Wayanad. 

Sharing the image on Facebook, a user wrote, “#WayanadLandslide 

More than 50 houses were destroyed in the landslide that completely swept away the little town of Mundakkai. Heavy engineering equipment and rescue dog teams are being airlifted, and disaster relief teams have been dispatched by the Indian Coast Guard to Wayanad to help in the rescue operations”.

Facebook Link | Archived Link.

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the image is old and not from Mundakkai, Wayanad. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. As a result, we found the image on the Wikimedia Commons website which stated the image shows the landslide during the 2001 El Salvador quake on 13 January.

Archived Link.

Moving forward, using relevant keywords, we found the same image published on the website United States Geological Survey, the official website of the United States government. According to the website, the image shows the 2001 El Salvador Landslide caused by the earthquake.

Archived Link.

Further, we found the same image on The Guardian website. There the image was attached with the description, “Destruction in Santa Tecla, near San Salvador, as seen from the air after the earthquake, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale and caused a massive landslide”.

Archived Link.

The El Salvador Earthquake in 2001:

The January 2001 El Salvador earthquake struck El Salvador on January 13, 2001, at 17:33:34 UTC. The 7.6 (later estimated to be 7.7 or 7.9)[1] quake struck with the epicentre 60 miles (100 km) SW of San Miguel, El Salvador (13.04°N 88.66°W) at a depth of 60 km (31 mi). At least 944 people were killed, 5,565 others were injured, 108,261 houses collapsed, with another 169,692 houses damaged, and more than 150,000 buildings were damaged in El Salvador. About 585 of the deaths were caused by large landslides in Santa Tecla and Comasagua.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim made with the viral image is false. The image is not from the recent Mundakkai Wayanad landslides. This is an old image from the 2001 El Salvador earthquake-induced landslide.