VERA Files
Three Facebook (FB) users claimed that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned about a magnitude 8 earthquake that may hit Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and Surigao. This is fake.
The netizens’ posts also repeated a previously debunked claim about a high-magnitude earthquake possibly hitting CDO and the Tagoloan municipality in Misamis Oriental.
They surfaced the same day a 6.8 earthquake hit Sarangani, Davao Occidental.
Phivolcs has released no such warnings.
“There is no technology in the whole world which can tell when and where a powerful earthquake will happen,” Phivolcs said in an advisory in Filipino in April 2022. In the same statement, it denied issuing the warning about the “high-magnitude” earthquake in CDO and Tagoloan.
More, the Offices of Civil Defense in Region IX – Zamboanga Peninsula and Region XII – Soccsksargen said the circulating warnings are “fake news”.
The Region IX office discouraged the public from believing such messages and encouraged people to always prepare for any natural disaster.
The fake posts also mislead by insinuating that earthquakes recently hit the municipality of Tulunan in North Cotabato. This is old news: Phivolcs recorded magnitude 6.3 and magnitude 6.6 earthquakes in October 2019 in the area.
The untrue posts garnered a total of 178 reactions, 25 comments, and 762 shared. Some people called it fake, while one remarked that the post read like a prediction from a local clairvoyant.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
