Claim: A video shows an earthquake in Iran on 3 November, caused by Iran’s nuclear tests.
Fact: The video is old and shows scenes from 2021 when two earthquakes hit areas in the south of Iran.
On 4 November, X user @RadarHits posted a video (archive) showing scenes from an earthquake where drivers stand beside immobile trucks on the shaking roadside, and dust is seen arising from mountains in the background. The caption reads, “JUST IN: Earthquakes in Iran as trucks shake on the side of the road and dust rises from the mountains. Nuke tests?”
The caption of the post also speculates whether the recent earthquakes reported in Iran were the result of nuclear tests.
On 3 November, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit Garmsar in Iran’s Semnan Province. No injuries were reported, but the earthquake caused internet and power outages, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched keyframes from the video and found it is from November 2021, when two tremors of magnitude 6.4 and 6.3 respectively, hit areas in the south of Iran.
We found the video (archive) posted on Facebook by Al Khaleej, a UAE-based newspaper, on 14 November 2021. According to its description, the video is from Iran and shows, “trucks swaying on the impact of a 6.5-magnitude earthquake that struck the city of Bandar Abbas #Gulf_Newspaper #Gulf_Fifty_Years.”
Another video (archive) on Facebook from November 2021, titled “Video – #Iran earthquake this afternoon to the east of the Strait of Hormuz with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale,” shows scenes similar to the video in the claim, confirming it is from 2021. Similar Facebook posts can be found here and here.
Jamaran News’ report from November 2021, titled “Big earthquake in the south of Iran” also carried a similar video of an earthquake further down on the page.
Soch Fact Check thus concludes the video of an earthquake in Iran is not from the recent earthquakes reported in the country. The footage in the claim originally dates back to November 2021.
Virality
The X post garnered 510,500 views and was liked 5,500 times.
It appeared on X here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.
On Facebook here, here, here, here.
Conclusion: A video does not show an earthquake in the Semnan province of Iran that took place on 3 November. The footage is originally from November 2021 when two earthquakes of 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude respectively, hit areas in the south of Iran.
Background image in cover photo: Edarabia
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