Photo Depicting a Collapsed House Caused by Philippines’s Earthquake

Recently, a viral post containing three photos of a collapsed house implying that it happened in Cambodia was posted on Facebook. This post has been shared many times by social media users and has mixed comments and reactions. However, running a Google Reverse Image search proves that the photo attached with the caption above is misleading.

This is about our investigation of these photos.

Social Media Claim

On July 29, 2022, one of the Facebook users posted three photos on Facebook, which shows a fragment of a house demolition. This photo was attached to a caption mentioning “as an experience for the landlord and the contractor, the house owners want the cheapest”. The caption attached to the photo above has been shared several times by social media users, along with mixed expressions and reactions. Also, some social media users have questioned the details of the incident whether it really happened in Cambodia.

Below is a screenshot captured from the user's post above showing a view of the damaged house.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

The following is a screenshot of comments made by users questioning and getting confused about the location of the above incident.

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.

Through the USA Today news media website, published on July 29, 2022, it shows the exact same view of the collapsed house. According to the above website, the damage and breakage were caused by damage from the earthquake that occurred in the Philippines on July 27, 2022 ago.

The following is an image captured from the website above, written in English as “a destroyed house and vehicle a day after a strong quake struck Bangued, Abra province, northern Philippines, on Thursday, July 28, 2022. On Wednesday, a 7-magnitude quake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines, killing some people and injuring dozens”.

USA Today News Report | Archived Link

The above cause of the damage was also found on Getty Images, a popular audio-visual website. This website has also stated that they were the aftermath of a major earthquake in northern Philippines on July 27, 2022.

Getty Images | Archived Link

On July 27, 2022, a major earthquake struck the northern Philippines. The Philippines is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. This country is located in an area called the “Volcanic Belt” of the Pacific Ocean.

Reuters Link | Archived Link

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photos attached to the text above were misleading. This incident does not happen in Cambodia. These photos in fact were the aftermath of a major earthquake in northern Philippines on July 27, 2022.