After a 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Myanmar in late March killed hundreds of individuals and toppled a constructing in neighbouring Thailand, pictures circulated on social media falsely claiming they confirmed a cat free of the flattened skyscraper within the Thai capital. The images have been in reality taken after a jolt that hit Taiwan in April 2024.
“A cat getting rescued from the Bangkok collapsed constructing,” reads the Burmese-language Fb put up printed on March 29, 2025.
The put up shares pictures of an orange cat trapped in particles rescued by a person in protecting gear. It was shared greater than 900 occasions on Fb.
Screenshot taken on April 8, 2025 of the false put up
A skyscraper collapsed and killed dozens of building staff in Bangkok after the devastating earthquake hit on March 28.
The ruling army junta in Myanmar additionally mentioned on April 8 that the jolt killed greater than 3,600 individuals within the nation (archived hyperlink).
The identical declare was shared by a number of Fb customers in Myanmar, however the pictures in reality present a cat rescued after an earthquake struck Hualien in japanese Taiwan in April 2024.
A reverse picture search on Google discovered the primary photograph printed on April 13, 2024 in a report by Taiwan’s Central Information Company (CNA) on makes an attempt to rescue the feline from the Uranus constructing within the metropolis (archived hyperlink).
The CNA report additionally mentioned the proprietor died making an attempt to rescue her cat.
Screenshot comparability of the image as seen within the false put up (L) and on CNA’s web site
A magnitude-7.4 earthquake left the glass-fronted Uranus constructing tilting precariously, changing into an emblem of Taiwan’s strongest quake in 25 years (archived hyperlink).
The second photograph was featured in an article about the identical cat rescue on the identical day by Taiwanese information outlet the Liberty Instances (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot comparability of the photograph from the false put up (left) and from the Liberty Instances
An analogous video was printed by native outlet Formosa TV, capturing the second when the cat was rescued and brought to a veterinarian for therapy (archived hyperlink).
AFP has fact-checked misrepresented visuals linked to the Myanmar earthquake.
