Video of a tsunami hitting the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 2018 has been falsely linked to the deadly earthquake that struck Turkey and northwest Syria on Feb. 6.
A tweet sharing the miscaptioned video has been viewed more than 198,000 times at the time of writing (here). Similar posts were shared on Facebook (here) and (here).
The clip shows a tsunami hitting the Indonesian island of Sulawesi on Sept. 28, 2018, following a powerful earthquake. The video can be seen (here) in a Reuters report about the tsunami that year.
Misinformation is often circulated online following catastrophic events. Such misinformation can include mislabeled imagery of the aftermath or false claims on the rescue efforts.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey and neighboring Syria early on Feb. 6, 2023, killing more than 5,000 people and injuring thousands of others
(here).
The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) on Feb. 6 said there was no threat of a tsunami at the time to the eastern Mediterranean coastline following the earthquakes (here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The video dates to 2018 and shows a tsunami in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Turkey was not hit by a tsunami at the time of writing this article.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.