The claim
In videos currently being circulated, various claims are made about the earthquake in Turkey and Syria:
– A nuclear power plant is said to have exploded.
– The quake would have triggered a tsunami.
– Lightning during the quake was evidence of the use of a HAARP weapon.
Our conclusion
All of these claims are false. Neither a nuclear power plant exploded in Turkey nor were tidal waves triggered by a tsunami. Videos each come from a different context and are hybrid fakes or hoaxes. Lightning during an earthquake also does not prove the use of HAARP technology. The shared video of the “Earthquake Lights” isn’t from this year either.
There are days when you really doubt humanity. As if the images of deaths and destruction after the earthquake in Turkey and Syria weren't bad enough. On the one hand, politicians are trying political money commit further atrocities On the other hand, disinformation factories are also booming during such a crisis.
A Twitter video viewed 100,000 times is said to show a nuclear power plant exploding after the quake. After a tsunami warning from the Italian authorities, which was lifted shortly afterwards, videos also circulated that were supposed to show an alleged tsunami in the Mediterranean. Videos from the November quake showing lightning are intended to prove the use of HAARP technology. In short: none of this is true. The video clips are old and show (alleged) phenomena unrelated to the recent earthquake.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
The “exploding nuclear power plant”?
This is not the first time that the Twitter video embedded above has been misused as a hybrid fake. It actually shows an explosion in the port of the Lebanese capital Beirut in 2020. By the way, Turkey does not operate any nuclear power plants. A very, very detailed fact check of the video can be found at AFP .
The original video comes from the media site Beirut Today Twitter on August 4, 2020 . According to official information, fireworks ignited during welding work in a storage room. Their explosion infected another warehouse in which large quantities of ammonium nitrate were stored. On the one hand, this substance is used as a fertilizer, but it is also highly explosive.
The camp explosion killed 218 people and injured around 7,000. It destroyed large parts of the capital's port in Saint George's Bay and also caused extensive damage to the city. More than 300,000 people had to leave their homes. The circumstances of the explosion raised several questions, which Human Rights Watch addressed detailed report
Video footage of the explosion in Beirut has also been used to make false claims in the past. For example, they were distributed as evidence of a Russian air strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in February 2022. Russian disinformation agents also wanted to use a video to document the destruction after the attack on Kharkiv .
The tsunami in the Mediterranean?
issued a tsunami warning a press release in the early hours of February 6, 2023
Seismic event between Turkey and Syria.
Excerpt from the press release
Move away from coastal areas. Based on data processed by the Ingv Tsunami Warning Center (CAT), the Civil Protection has issued a warning about possible tidal waves reaching the Italian coasts at 02:17 after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake with epicenter between Turkey and Syria could.
It is recommended to move away from coastal areas, seek nearby higher ground and follow the advice of local authorities.
As a consequence of this report, all train traffic in the regions of Calabria and Apulia as well as on the island of Sicily was stopped at 6:30 a.m., as the TZ reported. The all-clear came shortly afterwards, around 7 a.m. The trains were then allowed to run again. Despite the all-clear and no tidal waves, alleged videos of the tsunami spread on social media.
Corresponding videos have already been debunked by various international fact-checking teams. One shows images of a “mini-tsunami” from Durban, South Africa in 2017 . At that time, 3 people lost their lives due to massive waves caused by a cyclone off the coast of Madagascar. The beachside infrastructure also suffered significant damage .
San Diego, USA . The video was recorded at the beginning of January by a TV journalist on the Mission Beach promenade and published on Twitter . Luckily there were no injuries there and the damage to shops and the waterfront was limited.
امريكا: عاصفة تضرب شاطئاً في سان دييغو بولاية كاليفورنيا الأميركي ةامريكا: عاصفة تضرب شاطئاً في سان دييغو بولاية كاليفورنيا الأميركي ة
Posted by El Hayat TV – قناة الحياة on Monday, February 6, 2023
Earthquake triggered by HAARP?
What becomes truly absurd is when the earthquake is linked to the use of HAARP technology. A video of lightning flashes during an earthquake supposedly proves this. There's just one catch: the video is from an earthquake last year (see also timestamp) and the thing about the HAARP superweapon is just a wild conspiracy theory . wetteronline.de has summarized the current state of knowledge about so-called “earthquake lights” well. There are already reports of the phenomenon in historical texts. Better explanations include short circuits in the infrastructure, ionized radon or underground magnetic fields triggered by geological processes.
CONCLUSION: Neither a nuclear power plant exploded in Turkey due to the earthquake nor were tidal waves triggered by a tsunami. These videos each come from a different context and are hybrid fakes or hoaxes. Lightning during an earthquake also does not prove the use of HAARP technology. The shared video of the “Earthquake Lights” isn’t from this year either.

Sources: AFP , newschecker.in , tagesschau.de , protezionecivile.gov.it , Beirut Today , Die Presse , Der Standard , wetteronline.de , erdbebennews.de , hrw.org , TZ , The Mirror , NBC San Diego , puls24 , zdf.de , Twitter
More fact checks:
WHO does not want to remove human rights from the “International Health Regulations”
Hugo Boss does not donate uniforms to Ukraine
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