CTBT: Science and Technology Conference 2025 - SnT2025

The propagation of seismic waves, misinformation and disinformation from the 2024-10-05 M 4.5 Iran earthquake

P5.3-202

Not scheduled

1h

Zeremoniensaal

E-poster T5.3 Outreach P5.3 Outreach

Speaker

Benjamin Fernando (Johns Hopkins University)

Description

The 2024-10-05 Iran M 4.5 earthquake was a relatively unremarkable reverse-fault event, except that it took place at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East. Its immediate aftermath saw widespread dissemination of misinformation, and potentially active disinformation, concluding that it was in fact a test of an Iranian nuclear weapon. The ‘evidence’ for many of these claims was based on inaccurate interpretation of seismic data. In this work, we analyse how geophysical ‘fake news’ propagated through social media (mainly Twitter/X) following this event, eventually gaining traction in mainstream, earned media. Although there were no significant geopolitical ramifications from the spread of this fake news, this event is nonetheless an illustrative warning of how seismic data can be misinterpreted and/or manipulated in public discourse.