Old photos from past earthquakes surface after tremor strikes Indonesia in April
A strong 7.4-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesia in early April, but photos of fallen buildings that circulated online in the aftermath are from past tremors in the archipelago. The pictures were published by major news agencies in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
“The situation in Indonesia after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck this morning,” reads part of the Burmese-language Facebook post on April 2, 2026.
It features three photos of buildings reduced to rubble.
Screenshot of false Facebook post taken on April 13, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
The posts surfaced after a major 7.4-magnitude quake struck off the coast of Kota Ternate in eastern Indonesia during the early hours of April 2, 2026, killing one person under a collapsed building (archived here and here).
The shallow earthquake triggered waves up to 75 centimetres (2.5 feet) high in places and prompted a tsunami warning that was subsequently lifted.
Similar posts sharing the same pictures surfaced after the quake on Facebook and TikTok.
However, the pictures depict the aftermath of earthquakes years ago.
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the first image corresponds to a wider photo published by US news agency The Associated Press on January 15, 2021 (archived link).
“Residents inspect earthquake-damaged buildings in Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021,” reads part of the photo caption.
Screenshot comparison of falsely shared photo (L) and the photo published by The Associated Press
AFP reported on January 18, 2021, that more than 80 people were killed in the quake and thousands more were left homeless (archived link).
Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera also published the same photo in its report about the earthquake (archived link).
Further searches found the second photo was published by AFP on November 22, 2022, about an earthquake in Cianjur, a town in Indonesia’s West Java.
“Villagers salvage items from damaged houses following a 5.6-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 162 people, with hundreds injured and others missing in Cianjur on November 22, 2022,” the caption stated.
Screenshot comparison of falsely shared photo (L) and the news photo published by AFP
The following month, officials said more than 600 people were killed in that disaster, with most of the victims killed as buildings collapsed or landslides were triggered (archived link).
The third photo was published by photo agency Getty Images on October 2, 2018, with a description that states it shows rubble and debris around a mosque after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck Palu, in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of falsely shared photo (L) and the photo on Getty Images
AFP also published a similar photo of the toppled mosque minaret on October 8, 2018.
The quake and subsequent tsunami killed 2,200 people and displaced another 220,000 in Palu, with entire neighbourhoods swallowed up by liquefaction — a process in which a strong quake makes the ground start behaving like a liquid, turning it into a kind of quicksand (archived link).
AFP previously debunked misinformation related to the April 2 earthquake in Indonesia here and here.
