31-07-2025
Fact Check: Video of shelves falling shows Myanmar earthquake, not Russia
A video showing shelves collapsing in a store during an earthquake in Myanmar in March has been miscaptioned online as footage from 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.
