Last updated on October 31st, 2026
Editor's note
On October 22, 2026, a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu City, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. The next day, a video of people fleeing a shaking building circulated across social media platforms, with multiple accounts falsely claiming it was footage from the quake zone.
Fact Hunter traced the clip to an August 2026 post. It was actually filmed at Meta Gym in Pereira, Colombia.
While the misleading posts only racked up around 100,000 views, the tactic of repackaging old footage for new disasters is a growing concern. This report uses archived posts and Google Street View images to show how old videos get recycled as breaking news – and how audiences can spot the fakes.
Claim
On October 23, 2026, X user @tparon posted a video showing a building shaking as people evacuated down a staircase. The post claimed it was the first video to emerge from China after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck the country’s Xizang Autonomous Region. X users @LaHoraMX and @TheRoverReport1 posted the same video, with @LaHoraMX claiming it captured the moment the earthquake struck.
Fact Check
1. The video was published before the Xizang earthquake
Fact Hunter found that Instagram user @metagym.com.co had already posted the footage on August 12, 2026, during an earthquake in Colombia. The post identified a specific gym location in Pereira, Colombia. The Instagram video has a total duration of about 71 seconds, longer than the roughly 34-second version shared on X. Similar footage also appeared on YouTube and Facebook that day. All these posts predate the October earthquake in Xizang.
2. Building features point to Pereira, Colombia
The building in the video bears a sign with the word “meta” in white lowercase lettering, alongside a yellow weight-shaped logo and the word “GYM” on the right. These visual markers align with the branding of Meta Gym, a fitness chain in Colombia. The address of its Parque Industrial outlet, as listed on the gym’s official Facebook page, also matches the location cited in the Instagram post.
Fact Hunter also cross-referenced Google Maps for “Meta Gym, Pereira” and located matching Street View images of the building. The site sits within the Parque Industrial area, consistent with the gym’s published address.
The storefront sign, building colors and the light-colored multistory building on the right also match Google Street View images from 2024.
3. Daylight conditions do not match the time of the earthquake
One of the posts reviewed, published by @LaHoraMX, described the clip as showing “the exact moment” the earthquake struck. However, according to seismic data from the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu City, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, at 10:33 p.m. Beijing Time on October 22, 2026. CGTN published CCTV footage on October 23 that captured the shaking and showed nighttime conditions. This discrepancy undermines claims that the viral video was filmed at the time of the earthquake.
4. How the video spread
The video circulated across multiple social media platforms and languages. Two dates stand out: August 12 and October 23, 2026.
On August 12, Meta Gym in Colombia posted the video on Instagram. The post identified its Parque Industrial branch, which is in Colombia.
On October 23, X users @tparon and @RoyaNewsEnglish shared the video in English. Users @LaHoraMX and @larepublica_co shared it in Spanish. All four accounts falsely linked the footage to the Xizang earthquake. The post by @tparon was further redistributed in Japanese and Hindi. Similar misleading content spread on TikTok and Instagram. Spanish news outlet Libertad Digital also embedded @tparon’s post in its earthquake report. The misleading footage spilled over from social media into news coverage.
5. Who shared the video?
@tparon is a personal X account with around 15,500 followers. Its bio mentions breaking news, natural disaster monitoring and open-source intelligence (OSINT). The account regularly posts updates on global events, disasters, wars and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
@LaHoraMX is a news aggregation account with around 11,500 followers. It mainly covers local news from Puebla, Mexico, and nearby areas. It also publishes national and international breaking news.
@TheRoverReport1 is a personal account. Its bio reads “Conservative news & common sense.” The account frequently publishes short videos and commentary on current affairs.
Background
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC), a magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck Baqen County in Nagqu City, southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, at 10:33 p.m. Beijing Time on October 22, 2026. The earthquake had a depth of 10 kilometers.
Xinhua reported that the earthquake had killed 16 people and injured 76 as of 3 p.m. on October 23. Local authorities organized search and rescue operations, medical treatment and emergency shelter for affected residents.
Verdict
Out of Context
Conclusion
Verification shows that the clip is unrelated to the October 2026 earthquake in China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, making it another example of old footage being misleadingly presented as current.. The video first surfaced online in August. Visual markers confirm the building is a Meta Gym location in Pereira, Colombia, which matches the venue’s listed details and surrounding structures. And the daytime lighting in the video contradicts the nighttime conditions when the earthquake struck Xizang. For audiences seeing clips shared amid breaking disaster news, visuals and captions alone are not sufficient to verify authenticity. Always cross-check prior upload timestamps, filming locations and reliable sources before treating such footage as valid.
Have a questionable video or claim? Submit it to Fact Hunter’s investigation team at [therealfacthunter@outlook.com].
Primary Fact Checker: Cheng Yuqing
Secondary Fact Checker: Lei Ting
Reference:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-10-23/CCTV-footage-captures-tense-moments-as-M7-0-quake-hits-Nagqu-Xizang-1Rt2FejTuIE/p.html
https://www.mem.gov.cn/xw/yjyw/202610/t20261022_736710.shtml?
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/pZ1GAoXuY2VWWFeP1fWD_w
https://www.news.cn/20261023/84fe57c55acf4594a797e68e7c8628fd/c.html?
https://www.news.cn/20261023/769b3627dd2d445e840075d3c75ed048/c.html?
https://society.people.com.cn/n1/2026/1027/c1008-40822045.html?
https://www.xizdzj.gov.cn/a/xi-zang-na-qu-shi-ba-qing-xian-fa-sheng-7-ji-di-zhen.html?
