What is the claim?
After a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Tibet near the Nepal border on January 7, 2025, a video has gone viral on social media showing a road with large cracks. Many users claimed that the video shows the devastation caused by the recent earthquake in Lobuche, Nepal. A similar post on X has received over 50,000 views and 160 reposts at the time of writing. Archived versions of similar posts are available here and here.
The video has also gained widespread popularity on Facebook, with similar claims suggesting it was captured in Nepal after the January 7 earthquake. Archived versions of such posts are available here, here and here.
Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Rational Facts)
According to a report by The Washington Post, at least 125 people lost their lives and 188 others were injured in the earthquake near the China-Nepal border. The earthquake occurred in Tingri County, located on the high Tibetan Plateau near the border with Nepal.
However, the video now going viral has no connection with this recent earthquake. It was in 2015, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal near Kathmandu, killing nearly 6,000 people, injuring thousands and causing massive infrastructure damage.
what we found
Logically Facts performed a reverse image search and identified a similar video in an article published by The Guardian on April 25, 2015. The article detailed the devastating effects of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015. This was one of the most powerful earthquakes. To hit this area in 80 years.
There are striking similarities between The Guardian’s viral video and the footage. At the 0:27 timestamp of The Guardian’s video, individuals can be seen standing near a collapsed road, which matches the scene shown at the 0:25 mark of the viral clip.
A comparison showing scenes from the viral clip and The Guardian clip. (Source: X/The Guardian)
The viral video also features the Telegraph logo, hinting at its origin. A keyword search yielded the same clip uploaded to YouTube by The Telegraph on April 25, 2015 (archived here). The video description reads, “Footage shows large cracks in a Kathmandu road, caused by a powerful earthquake that left at least 1,130 people dead, according to local police.”
Although the video shows the damage caused by the earthquake in Nepal, it is from 2015, not a recent event.
Decision
A video of the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal has been wrongly linked to a recently recorded earthquake on the Tibet-Nepal border on January 7, 2025.
(This story was originally published by Logically Facts, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)
