A TikTok user with the handle @kingarjun82 on July 12 posted a video clip with a headline that read: “A 7.6 [Richter] scale earthquake [hits] with an epicenter in Darjeeling.” A Nepali calendar date of 2079/3/28, which is June 13, 2022 was posted by the user on the short-video platform. The post read: “Tremors of earthquake felt in east Nepal.”
The 19-second clip has been viewed more than 4.2 million times on TikTok. It has received more than 200,000 reactions. By Sunday afternoon, it had been shared by more than 3.000 users. In the video, TikTok users commented that it was meant to raise awareness about the earthquake.
The video clip shows students streaming out of their classroom carrying school bags. Then, the camera follows students ducking under tables. It also shows a boy sitting on the floor, his face covered in blood. A girl has blood on her hand as other students are seen lying on the floor.
We downloaded and analysed the video clip from different angles. here were few clues that would help us answer questions such as when the video was taken and its location.
On the same day, the TikTok user posted another video clip with a headline that said: “Rescue operation ongoing after a powerful quake in Darjeeling.” It shows teachers helping students move to safety. A fire truck siren is also heard in the clip. A few policemen are seen opening a gate for the fire truck. The uniform of the policemen indicate that the video showed visuals of India. But it was the word “Haryana” painted on the fire truck that helped us determine its exact provenance.
यो सत्यापन नेपालीमा पढ्नुस्
We first searched Google using keywords “haryana school students earthquake preparedness.” But as it didn’t return results closer to our investigation, we refined our keyword and ran a search on YouTube. We used “haryana earthquake mock drill” as keywords for our search.
We found that TikTok user @kingarjun82 had used video clips from a mock drill at a school in Haryana. Tube Crawler, a YouTube channel that shares funny videos, posted the 14 minute video on December 25, 2017. A further search on YouTube showed that the mock drill was conducted by KM Public School in Bhiwani district in the north Indian state of Haryana.
Claim: TikTok video clips show rescue operation after an earthquake in Darjeeling
Claimed by: TikTok user
Verdict: False
NepalCheck.Org 