Old and AI-generated images circulated following Tibet earthquake
A powerful earthquake recently struck Tibet, causing the collapse of numerous structures and resulting in the deaths of over a hundred individuals. In the aftermath, several images claiming to depict scenes from the earthquake have been widely circulated on social media. However, verification has revealed that these images are unrelated to the event. Among them is an AI-generated picture of a child. The other two images are from past incidents, one dating back 16 years and the other 14 years.
A Facebook post captioned, “Horrific earthquake in Tibet 🙏🙏🙏,” and included six images. Among them, one shows a child trapped under debris. This particular image has also been associated with several other posts about the Tibetan earthquake (1, 2, 3). A detailed examination of the image reveals that the child’s hand features six fingers.
Verification of the image led Dismislab to a report from China’s Yangtse Evening Post. The report identified the image as one created using artificial intelligence (AI). It further stated that the image was part of a short video posted on November 18, 2024, by a Chinese TikTok account named “AI小芭芘” (AI Xiaoba). Searching for the account on the Chinese version of TikTok reveals additional AI-generated videos featuring the same child. Hence, the image is unrelated to the Tibetan earthquake.
Some other Facebook posts (1, 2) about the Tibetan earthquake included an image showing the rescue of an affected woman. Conducting a reverse image search led to a New York Times report published on May 16, 2008. This report covered the devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, which caused approximately 70,000 deaths. The image was used in the report, with the caption: “A rescue worker carried a survivor from the rubble in Beichuan, China, Thursday, three days after the massive earthquake struck.” Thus, this image is approximately 16 years old.
Another image shows several Buddhist monks standing atop rubble. This image has also been shared in recent Facebook posts with the caption “Horrific earthquake in Tibet” (1, 2, 3). A search for this image leads to a report published by NBC News on April 14, 2010. The report pertains to a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai Province, China, which killed over 2,500 people and left more than 2,000 missing. The image of the monks assisting in rescue efforts was featured at the beginning of the NBC News report. A related video can also be found on the YouTube channel of the Associated Press (AP), uploaded in 2010. This confirms that the image is approximately 14 years old.
Additionally, some older videos have been circulated on social media with claims linking them to the recent Tibetan earthquake. Dismislab has published a fact-checking report addressing those videos. Notably, Chinese media reports that a 6.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in the country’s Tibet Autonomous Region on January 7, resulting in 126 fatalities and 188 injuries to date.