Those ‘Earthquake Report’ Maps for Your State? AI Made Them, and the USGS Shows No Quake
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30+
States With Copycat Posts
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2.5
Biggest Real Tremor Found
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3.0
Magnitude People Usually Notice
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Medium
Fooled Index
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AI-GENERATED — A detailed map can still be a fake. Check the official source.
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In September 2026, Lead Stories warned about a wave of Facebook posts that looked like official “Earthquake Reports.” Each one showed a detailed satellite map with the main roads and several cities highlighted, a bullet list, and a caption telling readers to stay safe and alert. One example came from a page called Life In Indiana on Sept. 15, and it followed the same script as posts about other states.
The reports were not real. Lead Stories checked the USGS earthquake map and found no recent quakes in the states named in the posts. The only tremors it found were a 2.2 magnitude quake in Marshfield, Ohio, on Aug. 31 and a 2.5 magnitude quake in Massac, Kentucky, in August. Lead Stories notes that people typically report feeling earthquakes only above about magnitude 3.0, so tremors that small usually go unnoticed.
The posts follow a copy-and-paste formula, with the same wording and only the state and city names swapped. A German fact-checking site, Mimikama, reports that Lead Stories found versions for more than 30 states. Some of the maps are distorted, such as a Kentucky map squished from east to west, apparently to fit a vertical post, and at least one carried Facebook’s “AI content” label.
The goal is clicks. Lead Stories says posts like these are built to catch the attention of people in one region and get them to comment and share. Mimikama also found that several pages share the same name, such as “Massachusetts Life,” and that one of them is managed by no one in the U.S., according to Facebook’s page information.
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The official map shows no quakes. The USGS map showed no recent quakes in the named states, apart from two tiny tremors in Ohio and Kentucky.
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The text is copied from state to state. Posts for different states used the same wording, with only the state and city names swapped.
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The state maps are squished. Some maps were distorted, such as a Kentucky map squeezed from east to west, apparently to fit the post’s shape.
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At least one post carried an AI label. A post from a page called Life In Kentucky showed Facebook’s “AI content” label.
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🚨 AI-Made Maps, No Quakes
These “earthquake reports” are not real. The maps were made with AI, the wording was copied from state to state, and the USGS shows no matching quakes. Check the official map before you share a local alert.
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Those ‘Stunt Running’ Videos With Impossible Jumps? Many Are AI-Made Clickbait
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Have you seen a video of an athlete running up a giant curved wall or a steep ramp, then making an impossible jump? Lead Stories published a “prebunk” this week warning that many of these “stunt running” clips were made with AI, probably as clickbait. Parkour is a real sport, and many of the clips use that word, but the clips themselves do not show real people’s stunts. The online detector Sightengine rated one clip 92% likely to be AI-made. The same account posted what it claimed was the same stunt repeated in Las Vegas, Moscow, and Giza, and some YouTube Shorts versions carried an AI label. The captions brag that “gravity never stood a chance.”
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That ‘Holistic Healer’ Comparing European and American Food? She’s an AI Character
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A video posted on Threads on Sept. 15 showed a woman named Consuela Herrera comparing European and American food side by side, with orange juice and steaks. She is not a real person. The video came from an Instagram account that is labeled an “AI-generated profile,” and the reel carries an “AI content” label, even though the account’s bio describes her as a holistic healer “teaching you what my ancestors taught me.” Hive Moderation rated the video 99.9% likely to be AI-generated and the speech 57.3% likely. Lead Stories also spotted glitches: the orange juice pours through thick layers of cheesecloth without slowing, the pulp stays on the cloth like a dry mass, and after she lifts one seared steak out of the pan, another steak appears in its place.
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YOUR REALITY DETECTOR TOOLKIT |
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Today’s Skill: Check the Official Source Before You Share a Local Alert
A scary post about your own state is built to be shared fast. A quick check takes less time than the share.
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Check the official map
The USGS earthquake map showed no quakes where the posts said people felt them. For quake, weather, or outage alerts, the agency’s own site is the fastest check.
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Look for the platform’s AI label
Facebook and Instagram often say “AI info,” X says “Made with AI,” and TikTok says “Contains AI-generated media.” A label is a clue, but a missing label is not proof that a post is real.
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Notice when a ‘local’ alert reads like a template
The same wording showed up for state after state, with only the names swapped. If a local alert could be about anywhere, it may have been written for everywhere.
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