After Russia’s sparsely populated Far East was rattled by one of many strongest earthquakes ever recorded in late July, previous movies have been shared in posts falsely claiming they confirmed the affect of the tremor. The clips have been in reality recorded in March, when Myanmar was struck by a 7.7-magnitude quake.
“Tonight (July 30), a robust 8.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, categorised as a ‘very shallow earthquake’,” reads a part of the normal Chinese language caption of a Threads clip shared on July 30, 2025.
The clip seems to indicate CCTV footage of the within of a store as a tremor hits, sending cabinets crashing down.
An identical TikTok video, additionally shared on July 30, exhibits employees scrambling for canopy below desks because the quake strikes.
“Unhappy information from Russia. An 8.7 earthquake adopted by a tsunami occurred this morning,” reads its Indonesian-language caption.
Screenshots of the false Threads and TikTok posts captured on July 31, 2025, with crimson Xs added by AFP
They surfaced hours after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia’s far jap Kamchatka peninsula, prompting evacuations and tsunami alerts throughout elements of the Pacific coast (archived hyperlink).
Fears of a disaster subsided, nevertheless, with nation after nation lifting or downgrading warnings and telling coastal residents they might return.
The circulating clips have been additionally shared in comparable Douyin, Fb, Instagram and X posts.
However the clips in reality present the affect of a distinct earthquake.
Myanmar temblor
A more in-depth evaluation of the primary falsely shared clip exhibits a timecode in its top-right nook that reads, “2025-03-28”, which is when a 7.7-magnitude quake struck northwest of the town of Sagaing in central Myanmar (archived hyperlink).
Greater than 3,700 individuals have been killed within the quake, which destroyed swathes of houses and companies (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot of the falsely shared clip, with the timecode magnified by AFP
A reverse picture search on Google utilizing keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to an extended model that was shared on TikTok on March 30 by an account referred to as “Prime One Cellular” (archived hyperlink).
“It isn’t straightforward to run inside three seconds,” reads its Burmese-language caption.
Screenshot comparability of the falsely shared clip (left) and the TikTok video posted in March (proper)
The account additionally shared a comparable video from a distinct angle (archived hyperlink).
Subsequent key phrase searches led to the similar footage posted on the YouTube channel “2025 Sagaing Earthquake Archive”, which stated it confirmed a store in Tada-U, Myanmar (archived hyperlink).
Google Maps photographs of the Prime One retailer entrance match different movies posted by the TikTok account (archived right here and right here).
An evaluation of the second falsely shared clip exhibits a decal on the wall that reads, “Girl Bug”.
A mix of key phrase searches and reverse picture searches led to a TikTok video posted on Might 7, on the account of a salon and cosmetics provider referred to as Girl Bug (archived hyperlink).
The video’s Burmese-language caption features a hashtag for the March 28 earthquake, and says the employees proven within the video have been protected.
The date, “2025-03-28”, will also be seen within the video’s top-right nook.
Screenshot comparability of the falsely shared clip (left) and the video posted in Might (proper)
The store additionally shared the video on their Fb web page on Might 11, alongside an announcement that the department on 62nd Road within the central metropolis of Mandalay needed to be demolished due to injury attributable to the quake (archived hyperlink).
“We’re searching for a brand new location for the store and we shall be again quickly,” it provides.
Google Maps imagery of the location in Mandalay now exhibits a flattened plot (archived hyperlink).
AFP has additionally debunked different misinformation, which frequently surfaces after pure disasters, associated to the July 30 quake.
