Video shows “an entire block of unfinished houses collapsed as a result of an earthquake in Taiwan.”
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Rocks are on the road at the entrance of Taroko National Park in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, Thursday, April 4, 2024. The strongest earthquake in a quarter-century has rocked Taiwan during the morning rush hour. (AP)
Does video show the earthquake leveling an ‘entire block of unfinished houses’ in Taiwan? No
If Your Time is short
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This video predates the April 3 earthquake in Taiwan. News reports dating back to 2021 included similar footage showing the demolition of several buildings in China.
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The video has been mislabeled before, including being falsely described as showing damage from the 2023 earthquake in Syria and Turkey.
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Learn more about PolitiFact’s fact-checking process and rating system.
The magnitude 7.4 earthquake that rocked Taiwan on April 3 killed at least 10 people, injured more than 1,000 and trapped many others, according to initial reports. The powerful quake also damaged roads and more than 100 buildings.
But one viral video that an X user claimed showed some of the earthquake’s destruction is misrepresented.
"Houses of cards collapse: An entire block of unfinished houses collapsed as a result of an earthquake in Taiwan," a paid X subscriber wrote in one April 3 post that included a video of several light-colored high-rise buildings crumpling to the ground in a cloud of dust. "Death toll from Taiwan earthquake rises to 934 - local media."
Other X users later appended a community note, X’s term for user-submitted context that sometimes appears on posts if a consensus of users deem it incorrect or misleading.
(Screenshot from X.)
The community note is correct: This video does not show damage in Taiwan from the earthquake. News reports and earlier posts of the video show that the clip captured the 2021 controlled demolition of buildings in China.
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We also found no reports that the death toll from the quake has surpassed 10 people. As of about 11 a.m. Eastern time April 4, 11 people remained missing and more than 700 needed rescue, ABC News reported.
A reverse-image search of frames of the video shows that the video predates the April 3 earthquake. In one clip, which was posted to YouTube June 24, 2023, the description read: "15 building(s) demolished in China."
USA Today in August 2021 posted a video titled, "15 buildings in China get demolished simultaneously." The footage is not identical to the X post’s clip, but the buildings and the way they collapse is visually similar — down to the fact that one structure remains upright even after it appears to partially collapse.
"The 15 buildings that stood next to each other for seven years were demolished in China," reads the video description. "They were abandoned with rain damage."
The video clip from the X post was also falsely tied to the deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria in 2023, Agence France-Presse Fact Check reported.
We rate the claim that this video shows that "an entire block of unfinished houses collapsed as a result of an earthquake in Taiwan" False.
Our Sources
Post on X, April 3, 2024
Reuters, Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years kills 9 people, 50 missing, April 3, 2024
CNN, 7.4 magnitude quake hits Taiwan, strongest in 25 years, April 3, 2024
CNN, Hundreds stranded after deadly 7.4 magnitude quake hits Taiwan, April 4, 2024
CNN, More than 100 buildings damaged in Taiwan following earthquake, April 3, 2024
NBC News, Earthquake showed Taiwan was well prepared for a big one — more so than parts of U.S., April 3, 2024
YouTube, 15 building demolished in China, June 24, 2023
News.com.au, Demolished buildings expose alarming problem for China amid Evergrande crisis, Sept. 30, 2021
News.com.au, Crazy viral video of buildings collapsing in China exposes worrying truth, Feb. 25, 2023
Poynter, Why Twitter’s Community Notes feature mostly fails to combat misinformation, June 30, 2023
USA Today on YouTube, 15 buildings in China get demolished simultaneously | USA TODAY, Aug. 31, 2021
AFP Fact Check, Video shows buildings demolished in China, not devastation from Turkey-Syria earthquake, Feb. 13, 2023
NTD, China: 15 Buildings Demolished in 45 Seconds, Sept. 15, 2021
USA Today, 15 unfinished buildings were destroyed simultaneously, Aug. 31, 2021
The Associated Press, Why is Taiwan so exposed to earthquakes and so well prepared to withstand them? April 3, 2024
ABC News, Taiwan earthquake death toll climbs to 10, with hundreds still stranded, April 4, 2024
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Does video show the earthquake leveling an ‘entire block of unfinished houses’ in Taiwan? No
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