Shake and Fake: The aftershock of hoax stories following Jakarta’s earthquake yesterday

Screenshot from a video showing a truck almost getting toppled to its side, which many shared online after the January 23, 2018 earthquake in Jakarta even though the video was taken before that.
Screenshot from a video showing a truck almost getting toppled to its side, which many shared online after the January 23, 2018 earthquake in Jakarta even though the video was taken before that.

Just as people in Jakarta and its surrounding cities rushed to escape potential harm from yesterday’s 6.1 richter scale earthquake, many also scrambled to take out their smartphones to share whatever latest news and updates there were about the earth-shaking event, even if the line between truth and lies can be blurred in such panicked times.

Either because of some people’s unchecked desire to share the latest, most shocking news (whether it’s true or not) and/or because of others’ genuinely noble intent to warn others of possible future disasters, more hoax stories cropped up yesterday than there were actual aftershocks to the quake (there were four, according to officials) — and boy were a lot of people fooled.

One of the most widely shared videos supposedly taken during the earthquake could have been become iconic of the event… if it hadn’t actually been taken during an entirely different incident.

The clip purported to a show a couple of parked trucks being shaken wildly by the quake, with one almost toppling to its side.

So widely spread was this video, and so few bothered to immediately verify if it was in fact caused by yesterday’s earthquake, that even Metro TV, one of Indonesia’s biggest 24-hour news stations, included the footage in its reportage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh-TxuL7gT0

Had they done just a tiny bit of digging, the TV station would have figured out that the amateur footage was not usable as a version of it had been posted on Youtube in June of last year, with the poster claiming that it was taken on a ferry during its crossing between Java’s Ketapang and Bali’s Gilimanuk ports (and even that claim shouldn’t be immediately accepted as fact).

Another hoax that spread widely on social media yesterday was a circular, supposedly issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), warning of an even stronger aftershock, measuring up to 7.5 on the richter scale, that could possibly hit just off the coast of Banten province, potentially creating a tsunami.

While the circular seemed official in appearance, BMKG had to issue a statement denying its authenticity in order to prevent widespread panic after the hoax went viral.

The next time there’s an earthquake and you’re indoors, remember the advice of safety experts and drop down, take cover under a desk or table until the shaking stops and then exit the building. Unfortunately, to that advice we must now add as a precaution, during all times of natural disasters in the age of social media: verify, verify, verify anything you want to share online, because even the smallest seemingly harmless bit of false information can lead to grave consequences.



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