A post shared on Facebook claims to show a High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in the sky above Turkey before the Feb. 6 earthquake.

Verdict: False

The video shows a rocket launch in September 2022 in Kazakhstan.

Fact Check:

Approximately 35,000 have died following an earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria Feb. 6, with officials expecting the toll to climb, NBC News reported. HAARP is a program that studies the ionosphere and its activity, according to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

Social media users have been sharing a Twitter video claiming to show “HAARP” before the Turkey earthquake. The video implies that this showed a HAARP that caused the earthquakes.

However, through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video shows a rocket launch in Balkhash, Kazakhstan. The video was posted to Telegram in September 2022. On Sept. 21, there was a rocket launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome destined for the International Space Station, according to Click Orlando.

A video of the launch was posted on YouTube on the same day. “Soyuz MS-22 is a Russian Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station with a three crew planned for launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 21 September 2022,” the post’s description reads in part. (RELATED: Does This Video Show A Building Collapse From The Turkey Earthquake?)

The video also circulated in January 2023 with the claim that it shows a UFO, according to RTFB.be. RTFB.be geolocated the video to Balkhash and showed that the origin of the rocket is from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Misinformation around the Turkey earthquake has been widespread on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked a video claiming to show a restaurant kitchen shaking during the earthquake.