After several Taiwanese military aircraft suffered minor scratches during the island's strongest earthquake in 25 years in April 2024, social media posts falsely claimed two old photos showed the damaged jets. But one picture shows damage to a US military airbase after a 1992 hurricane, while the second shows a public demonstration of Taiwanese fighter jet capacity in 2022.

"The walls on the forts, hangars and barracks at the Hualien Air Force Base have peeled off, while the earthquake turned the planes into bumper cars, eight of the F-16 fighter jets were damaged from the collisions...." read part of the simplified Chinese caption of a Weibo post on April 3, 2023.

The two accompanying images showed a stationary jet amongst debris in front of a damaged hangar; and workmen under the wing of another aircraft.

The claim surfaced after a magnitude-7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan on April 3 -- the strongest since 1999 -- killing 17 and injuring more than 1,100. Strict building codes and widespread disaster readiness were credited with averting an even bigger catastrophe.

Taiwan media reported that "at least eight of its military's F-16 fighter jets" in Hualien -- one of its most advanced jets purchased from the United States -- sustained "scratches to the body of the aircraft" during the quake (archived link).

False posts sharing unrelated photos spread across Chinese content-sharing sites including Xigua Shipin, Zhihu and NetEase; the images were also included in a report by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Sing Tao Daily.

The United States is Taiwan's most important ally, and the island has been at the centre of tensions with China, which claims it as its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under Beijing's control.

US base

Combined keyword and reverse image searches on Google found the first photo of the damaged hangar published in 2012 on a US Air Force Civil Engineer Center webpage about the impact of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 on a military base in the southeastern state of Florida

It was captioned, "Destruction of Homestead Air Force Base after Hurricane Andrew" and credited to the US Air Force.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the misused photo (left) and the US Air Force image (right):

The category five Hurricane Andrew was the strongest storm to hit the US until Irma made landfall in 2017 (archived link).

Miami, where the Homestead Air Force Base was located, was particularly hard hit, with damage costing at least $34 billion.

Military drill

Further keyword and reverse image searches on Google found the second photo corresponded to one published in a report by Taiwan's Central News Agency on August 17, 2022 (archived link).

The report states media organisations were invited to view a demonstration of Taiwan's F-16V fighter jet's capabilities at the airbase in Hualien.

The photo's traditional Chinese caption translates as: "The 5th Tactical Composite Wing of the Air Force publicly demonstrated the potential mounting capabilities of the F-16V fighter jets at the Hualien base on August 17, ground crew demonstrated the loading of harpoon missiles, sidewinder missiles and other weapons."

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misrepresented photo (left) and the photo published by CNA (right):

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) addressed the false online claims in a press conference on April 9, 2024 (archived link).

Air force chief of staff Tsao Chin-ping said eight military aircraft sustained minor scratches in the earthquake, but all the jets were repaired soon afterwards.

Taiwan has debunked other false claims following the April 2024 earthquake in Taiwan.

Aftershocks rock Taiwan weeks after 7.4-magnitude earthquake

A cluster of earthquakes struck Taiwan early on Tuesday, 23 April, the strongest with a magnitude of 6.1 according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Two multi-storey buildings that had been evacuated after a magnitude 7.4 quake that hit the island earlier this month, killing 13 people and injuring over 1,000, were further damaged.

The earthquake earlier in April, the strongest on the island in the last 25 years, was centered along the coast of rural Hualien County and was followed by hundreds of aftershocks.

There were no reports of casualties in Tuesday's quakes.

The USGS said Tuesday's 6.1 magnitude quake had its epicentre 28km (17.5 miles) south of the city of Hualien, at a depth of 10.7 km.

Other quakes ranged from magnitude 4.5 to magnitude 6, all near Hualien.

Hualien County Mayor Hsu Chen-wei said: "From last night to this morning, everyone is in panic and fear. I hope all residents can move to an open place, do not stay inside the buildings."

Taiwan rattled by more than 200 quakes, but no major damage

Taiwan's quake-hit eastern county of Hualien was rattled by more than 200 aftershocks late on Monday and early on Tuesday, but only minor damage was reported and no casualties and major chipmaker TSMC said it saw no impact on operations.

Largely rural and sparsely populated Hualien was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on April 3 that killed at least 17 people, and there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks since.

Buildings across large parts of northern, eastern and western Taiwan, including in the capital, Taipei, swayed throughout the night, with the largest quake measuring a 6.3 magnitude. All were very shallow.

"Especially at 2 a.m., it shook very strongly. In fact, for a moment even I thought about rushing downstairs, but as we live on the sixth floor, I felt it a bit troublesome to go down," said Taipei resident Aden Peng, 44, a medical researcher.

"Then again, according to my previous experience, I thought it should be fine and hoped it would be fine," Peng added. "And because I was very tired, I just continued to sleep, hoping for the best."

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said the spate of earthquakes starting Monday afternoon - which it put at more than 200 - were aftershocks from the large April 3 quake.

Seismological Centre Director Wu Chien-fu told reporters that the aftershocks were a "concentrated release of energy" and that more could be expected, though perhaps not as strong.

With heavy rain predicted for all of Taiwan this week, people in Hualien need to be prepared for further disruption, he added.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, writing on her Facebook page, called on people to avoid the mountains and to stay alert.

"When an earthquake occurs, don't panic. Master the principle of 'duck, cover, stay put'," she wrote.

The Hualien fire department said two buildings, already uninhabited after being damaged on April 3, suffered further damage and were leaning.

There were no reports of casualties.

The world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), whose factories are on the island's western coast, said some staff at a small number of factories were evacuated, but facility and safety systems were functioning normally and all personnel were safe.

"Currently, we do not expect any impact on operations," it said in an email.

Investors brushed off concerns about the quake, with TSMC's Taipei-listed shares closing up 1.6% on Tuesday.

In mountainous Hualien county, some road closings following rockfalls were reported, and the government suspended work and school for the day.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is prone to earthquakes.

More than 100 people were killed in a quake in southern Taiwan in 2016, while a 7.3 magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people in 1999.