The Propagation of Seismic Waves, Misinformation and Disinformation From the 2024-10-05 M 4.5 Iran Earthquake
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 paper, 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.
Session: Adventures in Social Seismology: Ethical Engagement, Earthquake Early Warnings, Operational Forecasts, and Beyond [Poster]
Type: Poster
Date: 4/15/2025
Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)
Presenting Author: Benjamin
Student Presenter: No
Invited Presentation:
Poster Number: 122
Authors
Benjamin Fernando Presenting Author Corresponding Author bfernan9@jh.edu Johns Hopkins University |
Ross Maguire rossrm@illinois.edu University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
Brianna Fernandez brianna_fernandez@brown.edu Brown University |
Saman Karimi saman@jhu.edu Johns Hopkins University |
Elizabeth Koenck egk34@georgetown.edu Georgetown University |
Göran Ekström ekstrom@ldeo.columbia.edu Columbia University |
Tom Rivlin tom.rivlin@tuwien.ac.at University of Vienna |
Celeste Labedz clabedz@uchicago.edu University of Chicago |
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The Propagation of Seismic Waves, Misinformation and Disinformation From the 2024-10-05 M 4.5 Iran Earthquake
Category
Adventures in Social Seismology: Ethical Engagement, Earthquake Early Warnings, Operational Forecasts, and Beyond