Fact Check: Video of shelves falling shows Myanmar earthquake, not Russia
A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit near the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on July 30. It triggered tsunami waves of up to 5 metres (16 feet), with warnings issued for Japan, Hawaii, the U.S. West Coast and other Pacific nations.
A video of a woman sitting behind a desk and taking cover as shelves collapse around her due to violent shaking was posted online, opens new tab the same day with the caption: 'Visuals after the massive earthquake magnitude of 8.7 have hit the eastern Region of Russia'.
However, the footage shows an earthquake in Myanmar in March.
A TikTok account of a phone shop called Top One, based in Tada-U, Myanmar, opens new tab, posted the clip, opens new tab on March 30. The video has a date and timestamp indicating it was captured March 28.
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Myanmar, causing extensive damage on March 28, killing at least 3700 people, according to the country's ruling junta.
The TikTok account also shared a video compilation, opens new tab the next day with clips filmed from different angles of the same incident. Its post history has many videos of the same shop and its employees.
The TikTok account did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Miscaptioned. The video shows an earthquake in Myanmar, not Russia.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
British father killed by drone while fighting in Ukraine, wife says
A British father who volunteered to fight for Ukraine in the war against Russia has been killed by a drone strike, his wife has Robert Williams, 35, from Moreton in Wirral went to the country after losing his job despite having no military experience and his family's pleas not to go, Stephanie Boyce-Williams said fellow fighters contacted her to say he had been killed in a Russian drone attack in the Kharkiv region by adding "it doesn't feel real" and she was "in limbo" waiting for official confirmation of his death.A Foreign Office spokesman said it was "supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Ukraine, and are in contact with the local authorities". Mr Williams left his wife and their 12-year-old daughter in the UK on 7 May to travel family said they lost contact with him on 2 July after he set off on a mission, and were later told on 14 July he was listed as missing action, and two weeks later a member of his unit confirmed he had died. Ms Boyce-Williams told BBC Radio Merseyside: "I was sitting at home with my oldest son when I got the text through to say they had important information and could they call me so I knew instantly."She said she and others in the family had tried to convince her husband not to go to fight but he was determined."We were all absolutely devastated when he told us [he was going to fight]," she said."We spent time trying to convince him not to go, telling him how it would affect us and how it would impact our daughter, and everything else back home."But he was such a strong-willed man that once he got something in his mind there was no way you were changing it.""He wanted to help civilians, especially the children," she said. 'Dangerous' She said she had been in touch with him every day but when she last spoke to him, she knew something was different."I could tell by the tone of his voice when he phoned me to ask permission for me to put my mum down as an emergency contact that there was a bit more to it," she said he explained to her in his last text that: "I want to be straight with you this is dangerous"."Once it passed the three-day mark, which is what he originally said he was going to be out for, I was literally checking my phone every single day," Ms Boyce-Williams said"I said to one of my friends I want my phone to ring and for it to be his ringtone, I do not want a Ukrainian phone number coming up on my phone."I was sitting at home with my oldest son when I got the text through to say they had important information and could they call me so I knew instantly." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Kyiv opens war crime inquiry into head of infamous Russian prison
The director of Russia's notorious Taganrog prison, where officials are accused of overseeing the systematic torture and starvation of hundreds of Ukrainian detainees, has been notified by authorities in Kyiv that he is suspected of having committed a war crime. Ukraine's national police service and its chief war crimes prosecutor announced on Thursday that Aleksandr Shtoda, head of the Sizo 2 pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog, had been formally placed under investigation. Shtoda was identified by the Viktoriia Project, an investigation by the Guardian and other reporting partners into the death in Russian captivity of the journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who was seized while working undercover in the occupied territories and transferred to Taganrog, where she spent nearly nine months. She was last seen alive on 8 September 2024, and her body was repatriated earlier this year. Ukrainian investigators are still working to identify exactly where and how she died, although her remains showed numerous signs of torture. The announcement comes before Roshchyna's funeral in Kyiv on Friday, and follows a decision by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to posthumously award her the Order of Freedom. Shtoda took over as head the prison, which lies near the border with occupied Ukraine, in October 2022, having previously worked there in management roles. After Russia's full-scale invasion, Sizo 2 was transformed from a facility holding juvenile inmates and mothers with babies to a torture centre for prisoners of war. In a statement, Ukraine's national police service alleged: 'During the period of the suspect's leadership in Sizo No 2 in Taganrog, Rostov region, a system of repressive treatment of illegally detained Ukrainian citizens, including civilians, was organised.' They said their investigation, with operational support from other agencies including the intelligence services at the defence ministry, had found Roshchyna was 'subjected to systematic torture, humiliation, threats, severe restrictions on access to medical care, drinking water and food, and was deprived of the opportunity to sleep or sit during the day'. They also found she 'was subjected to physical punishment and psychological pressure' to cooperate by her captors at Taganrog. Police claimed Shtoda 'personally gave orders to his subordinates to apply physical and moral pressure' to Roshchyna. 'Being aware of her civilian status and the protection guaranteed by international humanitarian law, he deliberately violated the norms of the Geneva convention and other international treaties.' They concluded: 'The actions of the defendant were qualified as a war crime in accordance with international standards.' The police statement was accompanied by photographs of Shtoda, although by convention did not refer to him by name. He was named in a video statement released on the same day by the prosecutor in charge of Roshchyna's case, Yurii Bielousov, who said: 'By his actions, Aleksandr Shtoda committed a war crime in the form of ill-treatment of a civilian, for which he is liable under part 1 of article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 12 years. The investigation into this crime is ongoing and will identify all those involved in its commission.' A notice of suspicion is a formal document issued by law enforcement or a prosecutor to inform a person that they are officially suspected of committing a crime, and marks the beginning of the pre-trial investigation phase. Prosecutors may subsequently charge the individual, and a judge will then decide whether to proceed to trial. Those not physically in Ukraine can be prosecuted in absentia. Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns to protect journalists, welcomed the announcement as a 'first step towards justice'. They added: 'It is time for all those responsible for her death to be identified and held accountable. Their silence is unbearable.' Shtoda has been approached for comment.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Global News Podcast Trump-Putin meeting over Ukraine likely ‘in coming days'
The Kremlin has said planning is underway for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump next week, but denied the Russian leader has agreed to a subsequent meeting with the US president and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. The Trump administration's long-threatened tariffs on around ninety countries have taken effect on imports from dozens of countries, raising the effective US rate to its highest level in nearly a century. Relatives of hostages held in Gaza have set sail towards the territory in a flotilla of eleven boats adorned with flags and protest posters, calling on the Israeli government to stop the war, amid discussion of plans to escalate the military conflict in Gaza. German police have arrested three men suspected of being members of the outlawed Reichsbeurger group and of planning high treason. The families of those killed in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad two months ago, say it's like 'losing him twice' after receiving parts of a stranger's body, instead of their relative. The dangers of unregulated cosmetic procedures like botox and what the UK government is doing about it. Why a new investigation into Pompeii has shed new light on what happened after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and why one 90's superhero has joined in with the Trump recruitment drive for ICE agents to ramp up immigration raids and detentions across the United States. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@
