Earthquake images from Haiti, Nepal, and Myanmar wrongly attributed to Bangladesh tremor

Following a 5.5-magnitude earthquake near Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 21, 2025, multiple images circulated online claiming to depict buildings damaged by the tremor. In reality, these photographs were from previous earthquakes in Nepal (April 2015), Haiti (August 2021), and Myanmar (March 2025), documented in news reports at the time.

One Facebook post shared on November 21 showed a partially collapsed two-story building with a Bengali caption reading, "Buildings damaged in the earthquake at North Badda." This post was shared over 3,200 times. Another post on the same day displayed an aerial view of damaged buildings, also claiming the scene was in Dhaka.

Additional images circulated in a Facebook post with a caption stating, "Today's earthquake has caused the collapse of a garment factory building in Sreepur, Gazipur. Hundreds of people have died and many workers have been seriously injured." These images were also shared widely on other social media platforms following the tremor, which resulted in at least 10 deaths and over 300 injuries. Minor tremors hit the country the following day, causing widespread panic among Bangladesh's 170 million residents.

Despite the circulation of these photos, they did not show damage from the November 21 quake. The earthquake caused some destruction, including damage to at least 14 buildings and a fire at a power station, but the images were from different countries past disasters.

Reverse image searches revealed the origins of the misleading images:

• The first image had been used in an Al Jazeera report on August 14, 2021, depicting the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti. The photo, credited to the Associated Press (AP), shows collapsed buildings in Les Cayes. Haitian authorities reported more than 2,000 deaths and nearly 600,000 people affected.
• The second image appeared as a thumbnail for a YouTube video on the verified Storyful channel on April 30, 2015, showing drone footage of the Nepal earthquake, which killed almost 9,000 people and left millions homeless. The Guardian also published photos of the same buildings on the day of the quake.
• The third image originated from the Indian news site Manatelegu in a March 29, 2025 report about a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar that killed nearly 3,800 people. The same photos were shared on The Guwahati Times Instagram account on March 28, 2025.

Reuters captured the buildings from multiple angles in Mandalay, Myanmar, and AFP has previously debunked posts that misrepresented old images and videos of natural disasters.

Author: Sophia Brooks