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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

Boatos.orgDisasters & emergencies

TSUNAMI NO BRASIL! O MAR RECUA NO NORDESTE!

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim under review was that the sea’s retreat on Brazil’s Northeast coast warned of an approaching tsunami. The review describes videos of unusually low water circulating with messages making that connection, including one that says, “TSUNAMI NO BRASIL! O MAR RECUA NO NORDESTE!” It identifies the relevant scene as the reported low tide on the Northeast coast, rather than evidence of a tsunami already occurring. The review’s explanation is that the videos showed a common coastal event: the sea receding as the tide table’s level fell. It says tidal levels are affected by several factors, including the lunar calendar, and notes that in Bahia boat traffic was interrupted. It distinguishes that routine tidal change from a tsunami, which the article says is caused by undersea earthquakes. As further context for the claim’s plausibility, the review says Brazil lacks significant tectonic plate faults that could produce a tsunami, and describes the chance of one occurring there as extremely small. Its conclusion is that the low water reported on Northeast beaches was not a warning of a tsunami; the article attributes it to ordinary tidal movement and says it was unrelated to such a threat.

dpaDisasters & emergencies

Deze video toont barsten in de aarde in Hatay.

Publisher’s rating: De beelden tonen kloven in China, niet de provincie Hatay in Turkije. Er is dan ook geen verband met de recente aardbevingen.

The claim concerns a video circulated as showing the ground split open in Hatay, a Turkish province badly affected by the earthquakes of February 6, 2023. The investigation identifies the footage as material shared on Facebook and Twitter with that attribution, then checks whether the scenes match Hatay. It concludes that the video instead shows ravines in China, not damage from the recent earthquakes.