This Is Not a Photo of a Building Damaged After the Recent Earthquake in Kashmir

The photo is from Turkey, which experienced strong earthquakes on 6 February.

The photo dates back to February 2023 and is not related to the recent tremors felt in parts of northern India on 21 March.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

Social media users shared a photo of a damaged building claiming that it showed a structure in Kashmir that was destroyed after a recent earthquake which hit parts of northern India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan on 21 March.

The claim further states that three people were killed as a result of the collapse.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

(Archives of more such claims can be seen here, here and here.)

Is it true?: No.

• The viral photo shows a building that collapsed in Turkey's Kahramanmaras after an earthquake hit the country on 6 February.

• Kupwara police's verified Twitter account rubbished the claim about three people being killed as result of the earthquake, dubbing it "fake."

How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo which led us to the same photo on Getty Images.

• The photo's caption mentioned that it showed a building which was damaged in Kahramanmaras, Turkey after an earthquake on 6 February.

The image's caption mentioned that it showed a building in Turkey.

(Source: Getty Images/Altered by The Quint)

• Getty Images credited the photo to one Firat Ozdemir and Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency.

• Taking a cue from this, we used relevant keywords on Anadolu Agency's website to look for the photo, where we came across a report published on 6 February.

The article's translated caption mentions earthquakes in Turkey's Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep.

(Source: Anadolu Agency/Screenshot)

• It carried the viral photo and mentioned that Kahramanmaras was hit by earthquakes of 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude.

Three deaths in Kashmir?: Syed Junaid Hashmi, a local journalist from Jammu and Kashmir told Quint Hindi that there were no reports of any deaths related to the recent earthquake.

• Kupwara Police, too, called the claim "fake."

Conclusion: A photo from Turkey was shared to falsely claim that three people were killed in Kashmir after the recent earthquake on 21 March.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)