Fact Check: Old building collapse video falsely linked to recent Morocco quake

A powerful earthquake of 6.8 magnitude struck Morocco's High Atlas mountains on September 8. Over 1,000 people lost their lives, more than 300 people sustained injuries, and numerous buildings were damaged. The epicentre was 75 km west of Marrakesh, Morocco’s fourth-largest city.

The seismic event triggered a surge of videos and photos of the alleged effects of the quake, one of which shows a building collapsing in the dead of night.

A Twitter user sharing the viral video wrote, "Moment of building collapse after the strong earthquake hits in Marrakesh of Morocco." An archived version of the viral video can be seen here.

India Today found that this viral video is not related to the recent earthquake in Morocco. Instead, it is a three-year-old video, dating back to August 2020, when an old and dilapidated building collapsed in Casablanca, Morocco.

Our Probe

Reverse-searching keyframes from the viral video led us to several media reports from August 2020. A French news portal carried a report containing the viral video. It stated that the incident took place on August 5, 2020, in the Sbata region, near Casablanca in Morocco. The report noted that one person died during the collapse.

Additionally, we found a viral tweet containing the same video from around the same time, further confirming that it pertained to the 2020 incident in Sbata, Casablanca.

According to reports, the building was already in a state of severe disrepair and had developed significant structural issues, eventually leading to its collapse. Authorities had previously inspected the building and advised residents to evacuate it. While some residents committed to vacating the building within a week, the collapse tragically occurred before they could do so.

Thus, the viral video showing a building collapse in the Moroccan city of Casablanca is being shared as a recent incident following a deadly earthquake in another part of the country.