Old, Unrelated Image Shared as Child in Rubble After Myanmar Earthquake

This image is reportedly from Syria, showing a child peeping through a hole.

An earthquake struck Myanmar on 28 March, and the epicentre was located in Mandalay, resulting in significant destruction.

The claim: Following this, an image of a child looking into a camera through a hole is being shared on social media. Those sharing have claimed it shows a child in rubble following the calamity.

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• We were able to trace this image to October 2024 on short video platform TikTok, predating the recent earthquake in Myanmar.

What we found: We ran a Google reverse image search on the image and were led to a Reddit thread which was inquiring about this image, as well.

• One user's comment noted that the original video was uploaded on TikTok by a user named "@/userdvvrl92i." The origin of the video was from Syria and showed a child peeking through a hole.

• It also included a screenshot from TikTok which showed a child in a yellow sweater peeking into a hole. The caption of the said TikTok video noted, "The girl is in Syria and was playing. She is not in Gaza."

• This clarification was made because this image had gone viral as one showing a child in Gaza, previously. You can view some claims here and here.

• Using a virtual private network (VPN), we accessed TikTok but were unable to locate this user or the video.

• We then went through the reverse image search results and located a TikTok video by "@abuhudhaifaabsi2" featuring the same viral clip. This video was uploaded on 29 October 2024.

• However, the video did not mention where it was from. Regardless, the clip predates the earthquake in Myanmar.

Conclusion: This is an old video and is not related to the Myanmar earthquake.

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