Video from Colombia quake falsely linked to Peru tremor
After a 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit southern Peru on August 20, 2026, social media posts shared a video of a crumbling structure falsely claiming it shows visuals from the tremor. The footage was in fact filmed in the Colombian city of Pereira after a 7.4-magnitude quake struck the country a week prior.
“Peru is in chaos. A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake has just struck the Ayacucho region in the south of the country,” says a Chinese-language Douyin post shared on August 21, 2026.
The video shows the upper half of a blue building collapsing and debris falling as a man yells, “grandma, grandma…no…no” in Spanish.
A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck southern Peru on August 20, US seismologists said, with authorities reporting minor injuries to three people, according to a preliminary report ( archived link).
The Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) put the magnitude at 7.2 and said the quake occurred at a depth of 108 kilometres (67 miles).
Screenshot of the false post taken on August 21, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
In Peru, at least 22 homes, six schools and 12 medical centres have been impacted by the quake, the preliminary report found, as officials continue making damage assessments.
The tremor is the latest in a string of powerful quakes to strike South America, following deadly quakes in Venezuela on June 24 and Colombia on August 10 (archived here and here).
Similar claims circulated across Weibo and Douyin and also spread in multiple languages such as Spanish and Japanese.
But the clip shows a quake in Colombia and not Peru.
Misrepresented video
A reverse image search on Google found an Instagram post that shared a similar photo showing the damaged blue building on August 13 ( archived link). Its caption says Pereira.
Screenshot comparison between the false post (L) and the Instagram post
A 7.4-magnitude tremor struck Colombia on August 10, the most powerful to hit the country in nearly half a century ( archived link).
The quake killed nearly 300 people and destroyed more than 27,000 homes, with Pereira one of the cities affected the most ( archived link)
Google Maps street imagery of Carrera 7a in Pereira, Risaralda department, Colombia from March 2024 matches the scene in the false post ( archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared Douyin clip (L) and the Google Maps imagery
Diaro del Otun, a media organisation based in Pereira, also published several photos of the same area on its Facebook account ( archived link).
“Calle 32 at the junction of Carrera 6 and 9, Pereira…This is the state of these areas in central Pereira following the damage caused by the earthquake,” the post’s caption says.
AFP has debunked false claims related to recent quakes in South America.