A clip of a red wooden cabin being swept away by a storm surge was not filmed following two powerful earthquakes that struck Turkey and northwest Syria on Feb. 6. The clip was filmed in Greenland and shows a tsunami that hit a village in June 2017.
Misinformation and falsehoods are a common occurrence on social media following catastrophic events. Such misinformation can include miscaptioned images purporting to show the aftermath of a disaster or misleading narratives regarding rescue efforts.
Examples of the clip being shared as if it showed the aftermath of the earthquake that hit Turkey on Monday can be viewed (here) and (here).
A reverse image search reveals that the same clip can be viewed as part of a longer video that was uploaded to YouTube in April 2021 (bit.ly/3lbL8lv), archived (archive.is/wip/DIY3O).
According to the description of the video, it shows a tsunami hitting the village of Nuugaatsiaq in Greenland in June 2017. The same YouTube account uploaded another clip showing the same scene from a different angle (bit.ly/3Rzzpcm).
The landscape viewable in the distance in the clip circulating online (L) matches an image of the same village – Nuugaatsiaq – in Greenland as viewable on Google maps (R) (bit.ly/3jxHEsX), (ibb.co/sbyxkmc).
Another YouTube video uploaded in June 2017 by the Kalaallit Nunaata Radio (KNR), the national broadcasting corporation of Greenland, of the tsunami appears to show the same red wooden cabin (viewable at 39 seconds) (bit.ly/40ILeBs).
Various media outlets also reported on the incident at the time including The Guardian and CBC News (here), (here), (here).
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) stated on Feb. 6 that there was no current threat of a tsunami to the eastern Mediterranean following the earthquakes (here).
A 7.8 magnitude quake first hit Turkey and northwest Syria before sunrise, followed by a 7.7 magnitude quake in the afternoon (here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The clip was filmed in a village in Greenland and was uploaded to YouTube in April 2021. It shows a tsunami event that hit the village of Nuugaatsiaq in June 2017.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
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