Fact check: Video shows 2018 tsunami in Indonesia, not from recent earthquakes in Turkey

The claim: Video shows tsunami during recent Turkey earthquake

A Facebook post shows a video of a tsunami hitting a coastal city and appearing to either destroy or completely submerge beachside buildings. The video then shows flood water traveling through another section of the city.

"Tsunami Hits Turkey Shore," reads the video's caption in the Feb. 6 (direct link, archive link) post.

A graphic superimposed over the video says, "TO DONATE: INBOX FB PAGE FOR DETAIL: TURKEY EARTHQUAKE 2023."

The video was viewed more than 20,000 times and shared more than 150 in a day.

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Our rating: False

The video shows footage of a tsunami that happened in Indonesia in 2018, not footage from the recent earthquake in Turkey.

Footage from Indonesia

Thousands of people are dead after a powerful earthquake and aftershocks struck Turkey and Syria in the early morning hours of Feb. 6. However, the footage shown in the video is not associated with this catastrophe.

Instead, it shows a tsunami that struck the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in 2018. The footage shown in the social media post was featured in both Reuters and CNN coverage of the incident.

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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.

The video was also debunked by Reuters, Associated Press, Lead Stories and India Today Fact Check.

Our fact-check sources:

• USA TODAY, Feb. 6, More than 1,300 dead after powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes near Turkey-Syria border

• Reuters Graphics, Oct. 2, 2018, Catastrophe in Sulawesi

• CNN, Sept. 30, 2018, Indonesia earthquake, tsunami death toll tops 400, hundreds more injured

• Reuters, Feb. 7, Fact Check-Old video of Indonesia tsunami shared as if from Turkey earthquake 2023

• Associated Press, Feb. 6, Indonesia tsunami video misrepresented as Turkey after earthquake

• Lead Stories, Feb.7, Fact Check: Major Tsunami Did NOT Hit Turkey After February 6, 2023, Earthquake

• India Today Fact Check, Feb. 7, Fact Check: Old videos from Japan and Indonesia WRONGLY shared as footage from Turkey and Syria quakes

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Tsunami video from 2018 Indonesia, not Turkey earthquakes