After an earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand in late March, numerous video clips were widely shared on social media. Among them was a video showing a crowd of people running to escape a collapsing building, which was posted online along with claims that it depicted a recent earthquake in Chiang Mai on April 21. This video, along with the accompanying claim, quickly went viral and received many reactions on social media. However, Fact Crescendo found that this claim is misleading.
Social Media Claim
A video clip showing a building collapsing and crowds of people escaping was shared on social media, accompanied by claims that it depicted the earthquake in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on April 21. This video, along with its caption, was widely circulated by many Facebook users.
Below is the video clip taken from a Facebook post dated April 21, 2025, with a caption reading, “Earthquake in Thailand, Chiang Mai.”
The same video clip was also posted and shared on Facebook by other users over the past few days. Below is the exact video, which was posted on Facebook by another user on April 21, 2025.
Below is another video clip taken from a recent social media post, featuring the same footage, with a caption that reads, “Another earthquake in Thailand, April 21, 2025.”
The same video clip, along with the identical claim, was also uploaded and circulated on YouTube on April 22, 2025.
This video has also been shared by YouTube users with a Thai caption: “แผ่นดินใหว #birds ตึกถล่มที่เขียงใหม่” which translates to: “Earthquake #birds collapsed buildings in Chiang Mai.” This misleading caption has contributed to the false claim that the video depicts a recent earthquake and building collapse in Chiang Mai, confusing viewers into linking it with the wrong location.
Given the claim’s extensive dissemination and the considerable attention, it has received from the internet community, we believed it was necessary to perform a fact-check on the above subject.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo has investigated and verification of the above claim using Google Reverse Image Search and relevant keywords, leading to the following findings:
A Google Reverse Image Search traced the video’s origin to TikTok, where it was first posted on March 28, 2025. The clip, showing people fleeing a collapsing building, surfaced weeks before false claims about a recent earthquake in Chiang Mai began circulating.
The TikTok user who uploaded the video clarified in their caption that the footage captured the collapse of a building in the Chatuchak area of Bangkok, Thailand. This incident occurred in connection with the earthquake that spread from Myanmar and was not related to any recent seismic activity in Chiang Mai, contrary to the misleading claims shared on social media.
A similar video clip was also posted on another TikTok account at the end of March, featuring a caption in Thai that read: “ถ่ายเองกับมือ เห็นกับตา ระทึกสุด แผ่นดินไหว กทม ตึกถล่ม จตุจักร #แผ่นดินไหวกรุงเทพ,” which translates to English as: “Filmed with my own hands, it was terrifying, an earthquake in Bangkok, building collapse near Chatuchak #BangkokEarthquake.”
A 30-storey office building under construction in Bangkok, intended to serve as an audit office, completely collapsed following an earthquake that originated in Myanmar. The incident resulted in multiple workers losing their lives, while others were trapped beneath the rubble.
Below is an image sourced from The Straits Times, showing the aftermath of the building’s collapse after the earthquake.
The Straits Times | Archived Link
The Fact Crescendo team also verified that there were no official reports of any building collapses in Chiang Mai during the earthquake on March 28, 2025, or in the days that followed. Despite the alarming claims circulating on social media, no incidents of structural damage or casualties were documented in Chiang Mai because of the quake.
According to a report by The Nation, several northern provinces of Thailand that share a border with Myanmar only experienced mild tremors from the earthquake. In total, 15 minor quakes were recorded in the region during that period, none of which caused significant damage or led to any building collapses.
The Nation News Report | Archived Link
The false and misleading claims surrounding the recent earthquakes in Myanmar and Thailand have prompted the Fact Crescendo team to actively work on countering the spread of misinformation and hoaxes circulating on social media.
Below is a list of fact-check articles published by Fact Crescendo addressing this issue:
- Mandalay’s earthquake-damaged temple mistakenly identified as in Yangon
- Viral Image of Trapped Child Not Related to Myanmar Earthquake
- Misleading Claim Portrays Meditating Monks as Earthquake Victims
- School Bus Crash Footage Misrepresented as Earthquake Victims in Thailand
- Viral Video of Myanmar Earthquake Aftermath Revealed as AI-Generated
- AI-Generated Visualization of Earth’s Crack Misleadingly Linked to Myanmar’s Earthquake
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Conclusion
Fact Crescendo has found that the claim attached to the video described above is misleading. The video clip shows the collapse of a 30-storey state audit office building in Bangkok following a powerful earthquake in Myanmar on March 28, 2025. It is not a recent incident in Chiang Mai.
Title:Building Collapse in Bangkok Falsely Claimed to Be in Chiang Mai
Fact Check By: Kakada SimResult: Misleading
