FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A Two-Story House Caught In A Landslide?

Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Editor

A viral image shared on Facebook purportedly shows an intact two-story house on top of landslide rubble over a highway.

Verdict: False

The image has been altered to include a house on top of the rubble.

Fact Check:

The image, which has been shared over 2,600 times, shows a large mound of rubble spreading over several lanes of highway. A seemingly intact two-story house, complete with a porch, is visible on top of the pile. “For sale: two story house,” reads text included in the image. “Quick access to Highway.”

In reality, the house has been digitally added on top of the rubble. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the photo without a house in it featured in an April 26, 2010 Daily Mail article about a landslide that took place near Keelung, Taiwan, the previous day.

“Tragedy: An entire hill appears to have shifted onto a motorway in Taiwan,” the image’s caption reads. “At least two cars are believed to be buried under the rubble after the landslide, which occurred on Sunday.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show A Real 7-Headed Snake?)

Experts were unsure of the cause of the landslide since there was no earthquake and no rain in the area at the time of the landslide, Taiwan News reported. Four people were killed as a result of the landslide, according to the Taipei Times.

Taiwan is one of the “most landslide-prone countries in the world,” according to Science Mag, with earthquakes and typhoons occurring regularly. A law was passed on the island in 2010 in response to a series of mudslides and landslides requiring all Taiwanese land be assessed for potential hazards such as landslides, BBC News reported in November 2010.

Brad Sylvester

Fact Check Editor
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