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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Disasters & emergencies fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about disasters & emergencies. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

3,259 published reviews in this topic

日本ファクトチェックセンターDisasters & emergencies

マウイ島火災発生の直前にレーザー光線

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The review says the image circulated as evidence of a laser-like beam striking Maui was actually a photo of a SpaceX rocket launch in 2018. It concludes that the photo does not support the claim that such a beam struck Maui just before the fires.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasDisasters & emergencies

Video muestra pavimento incendiado en Hawaii.

Publisher’s rating: Fuera de contexto

The posts presented footage of fire spreading along a street as evidence of the 2023 Hawaii fires. The review says the footage instead shows an incident in The Flats, a Cleveland neighborhood, on June 18, 2022. It describes the video as showing people filming the flames and a blue sign reading “FLATS.” To identify the footage, the investigators searched Google in English for keywords related to fire and “FLATS.” They found Cleveland news reports published on June 18, 2022, and compared the footage with a Fox 8 recording: the review says it showed the same sign and the same people recording on the street. It also notes similar clips in a 19 News report and a YouTube video posted that day. The review reports that local coverage placed the fire in Cleveland in the early hours of June 18, 2022. Those reports said authorities suspected a cigarette had come into contact with dry vegetation, after which wind spread the flames to other green areas near sidewalks or parking lots. The review distinguishes this Cleveland incident from the Hawaii fires in August 2023; the shared visual feature of fire at pavement level does not establish that the footage came from Hawaii.

Detusche Presse-AgenturDisasters & emergencies

Das Foto zeigt: Ein laserähnlicher Lichtstrahl traf Maui, Hawaii, kurz bevor die tödlichen Brände Lahaina vernichteten.

Publisher’s rating: Das Foto zeigt einen Raketenstart in Kalifornien im Jahr 2018. Der leuchtende Strahl entsteht durch einen fotografischen Trick, eine sogenannte Langzeitbelichtung.

The image does not show a beam striking Maui or the start of the fires. The review identifies it as a photograph of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on May 22, 2018. SpaceX later published the photograph on Flickr. That location and event make the image unrelated to the Maui fires in August 2023. The review explains that the apparent long beam is the rocket’s blurred flight path, not a laser. It attributes the effect to a long camera exposure: the rocket and its exhaust become blurred in the image, leaving an elongated streak. The review thus connects the image’s unusual appearance to how it was photographed, rather than to the fires or an energy weapon. The review distinguishes that image from what was known about the Maui disaster. It reports that the precise cause of the fires was not yet known, while noting that the island had been under an official wildfire warning because of dry conditions and that strong winds fanned the flames. Those points describe the fire context; they do not change the photo’s documented origin.

DoğrulaDisasters & emergencies

Videonun 10 Ağustos Malatya depreminden olduğu iddiası

Publisher’s rating: Yanlış

The claim concerned a video circulated as showing the earthquake in Malatya’s Yeşilyurt district on 10 August 2023. The review says that earthquake occurred at 20:48 and investigates whether the video showed it, rather than merely discussing earthquake footage in general. It reports searching for the video and finding it had been shared before the Malatya event as footage of the 6 February earthquakes in southeastern Turkey. The decisive clue described in the review is a clock visible on a wall in the video. The reviewer says it shows 04:17, which the article identifies as the time of the 6 February earthquake. That time does not match the 20:48 time given for the Malatya earthquake, so the video’s earlier circulation and the clock evidence both support the conclusion that it is not footage of the event claimed.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Dieses Video belegt: Die Medien haben das Ausmaß der Brände auf Rhodos extrem übertrieben.

Publisher’s rating: Die Interpretation des Videos ist irreführend. Mehrere Feuer wüteten unterschiedlich intensiv über eine Woche an verschiedenen Orten auf Rhodos. Beim Video handelt es sich jedoch nur um eine Momentaufnahme. Weder ist das gesamte Ausmass der Brände noch die resultierende Zerstörung zu sehen. Satellitenbilder dokumentieren, dass die betroffenen Flächen um ein Vielfaches grösser sind als das im Video zu sehende Brandgebiet.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Regardez ce que capture une caméra de surveillance posée par les gendarmes italiens à Palerme, en Sicile qui est entourée de feux ! Réchauffement ? Non, des salopards qui les allument....

Publisher’s rating: Non, la séquence vidéo n'a rien à voir avec les récents incendies en Sicile. Ces images ont été partagées en septembre 2021 par la gendarmerie italienne. Elles montrent l'auteur présumé d'un incendie bouté à Nemoli, un village du sud de l'Italie continentale, situé à quelque 500 km de Palerme.