What is true and what is false: debunking misleading content about the Turkey earthquake

A frantic race is currently underway in Turkey and Syria after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region on Monday, killing more than 5,000 people.

Chilling videos of the aftermath and rescue efforts have circulated on social media, including an alarming amount of completely unrelated and misleading content.

One of the most shared videos on Twitter has been viewed over 1.3 million times. Several buildings are seen collapsing to the ground, which the Twitter user attributes to the earthquake in Turkey.

But after doing a reverse image search, the video actually dates back to 2021 and shows the Surfside condo collapse in Florida that left 98 people dead.

Other videos like like this one claims that a tsunami hit the Turkish coast after the quake.

Again, using the same tools, Euronews found that the video dates back to 2017 and actually shows a mini tsunami hit the coast of Durban in South Africa.

Another picture of a crying boy sitting on rubble has been retweeted thousands of times. Twitter users say this is the saddest image from the earthquake in Turkey.

Again the image is misleading as it is a staged photoshoot and is being sold as stock picture.

Did a researcher predict the earthquake?

There is also an impressive number of social media posts claiming that there will soon be the same magnitude disaster that will hit Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It all began with a tweet by a so-called researcher who predicted on February 3 that there will be a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that will hit Turkey and Syria.

Although the prediction is correct, we must pay attention to the science behind it. The person claims to predict seismic activity by studying the planetary alignment which is not scientifically proven.

He had already been criticized by the scientific community for inaccurate predictions.