"Nuclear Plant Explosion, Turkey on High Alert"…SNS False Information Spreading Abroad

Compilation of Videos from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Beirut Explosion
Turkiye Government and IAEA Say "No Impact on Safety"

In T?rkiye, where massive damage continues due to a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, false rumors that "a nuclear power plant has exploded" are spreading through social networking services (SNS).

On the 8th (local time), according to Japan's NHK and Yomiuri Shimbun, amidst the tragedy where many people died from the earthquake that occurred on the 6th in T?rkiye and Syria, false information such as "a tsunami has occurred" and "a nuclear power plant has exploded" has appeared mainly on SNS, prompting the Turkish government to issue a warning.

The construction site of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Turkey's first nuclear power plant, in August last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

These rumors are reported to be circulating in English and Japanese. Especially since they are spreading along with videos, many people have been deceived. However, it was confirmed that the videos are not related to this earthquake but are edited footage from the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the August 4, 2020 massive explosion accident in Beirut, Lebanon.

Since 2010, T?rkiye has been promoting a project to build a total of four reactors at Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast as its first domestic nuclear power plant. The first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which has already been completed, is expected to begin operation within this year.

Previously, the governments of T?rkiye and Syria, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated that no tsunami occurred due to this earthquake and that the safety of the nuclear power plant under construction in T?rkiye was not affected. The IAEA tweeted on the same day, "So far, the earthquake has had no impact on nuclear safety and security in T?rkiye."

Ruins of buildings collapsed by a major earthquake in Karamanlaras, southeastern Turkey. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, which is participating in the nuclear power plant project, also issued a statement saying, "A magnitude 3 earthquake was felt on site, but no damage was found to building structures, cranes, or equipment," and explained, "Extensive diagnostic measures are being taken to ensure that construction and installation work can continue safely."

Meanwhile, on the fourth day after the earthquake, the confirmed death toll in T?rkiye and Syria reached at least 12,049. This tragedy is recorded as the eighth deadliest earthquake since the 21st century, following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that the death toll from this earthquake could exceed 20,000.