A social media video claims to indicate footage taken as an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Oregon’s coast — however on nearer inspection, nobody within the video appears to be affected by the temblor besides the individual holding the digital camera.
“Magnitude 8 earthquake hits Oregon coast…Assist us,” sticker textual content on a Nov. 1 Threads publish mentioned. The textual content included a praying fingers emoji and the publish’s caption talked about a verse from the Bible’s Ebook of Revelation.
The publish was flagged as a part of Meta’s efforts to fight false information and misinformation on its Information Feed. (Learn extra about our partnership with Meta, which owns Fb, Instagram and Threads.)
The video within the Threads publish was reshared from an Oct. 30 TikTok. It purports to indicate chaos as an earthquake violently shakes what seems to be a resort. The TikTok consumer mentioned it was filmed in Seaside, Oregon, a small, beachside resort city on the state’s northwest coast.
An earthquake struck off the southern Oregon coast that day, however it was 6.0 magnitude, not 8.0, Paul Laustsen, a United States Geological Survey spokesperson, advised PolitiFact in an e-mail.
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Earthquakes usually are not unusual in that area, so this one is probably going not an indication of a biblical prophecy, because the Threads publish’s caption says. Since 1924, there have been 44 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger in an space that features Oregon, northern California and Washington, a USGS map exhibits. The biggest was a magnitude 7.2 on June 14, 2005.
As of Nov. 8, 1,357 individuals had filed a “felt” report with the USGS concerning the Oct. 30 quake, which means they felt the earthquake of their location. Three of these responses had been from Seaside, a USGS map exhibits.
However Seaside metropolis officers mentioned they weren’t conscious of any impression from the earthquake.
(Screenshot from Threads)
“I learn {that a} 6.0 earthquake was reported off the southern Oregon coast that day. I am not conscious that it was felt right here in Seaside,” Mayor Steve Wright advised PolitiFact.
Metropolis Supervisor Spencer Kyle mentioned, “We didn’t really feel something in Seaside. I solely discovered about it within the information later.”
There are clues that the video isn’t depicting what it says it’s, beginning with the resort the place it was filmed. We checked the Metropolis of Seaside Guests Bureau web site and located 4 listings for inns, motels and resorts.
None regarded just like the resort within the video, which seems to be at the least 4 tales tall. Just one Seaside resort — a Greatest Western Plus — was that tall, however it doesn’t match the one within the video. Nor does it function an outside pool or inside courtyard just like the one seen within the video.
One other clue the video shouldn’t be displaying earthquake footage is that not one of the furnishings or objects within the room are shaking whereas the digital camera furiously shakes. Water bottles and a espresso pitcher stay nonetheless on a counter and lamps keep in place on bedside tables.
Individuals will be seen enjoyable in a pool, regardless of the supposed chaos round them.
When the individual with the digital camera heads into the resort’s walkway, we see bushes unmoved by the supposed earthquake and a bag of baggage and “moist flooring” signal that one way or the other don’t topple over as the bottom supposedly strikes round them.
Voices will be heard talking Japanese and other people calmly stroll to the resort foyer.
We fee the declare that this video exhibits an 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Oregon Pants on Fireplace!
PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.
