Unrelated old visuals falsely shared as the footage of the January 2024 Japan earthquake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 8, 2024
Multiple videos (here, here, and here) of water flooding onto roads and washing away boats and motor vehicles are making the rounds on social media, claiming them to be the visuals of the 2024 Japan earthquake. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Visuals of the 2024 Japan earthquake.
Fact: The viral videos are old and unrelated to the 2024 Japan earthquake. Some of them were filmed during the 2011 Japan earthquake and Tsunami. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Update (08 January 2024):
Another video showing the visuals of destruction caused by the 2024 Japan earthquake is being widely shared on social media. Let’s verify the authenticity of these videos.
The reverse image search of the viral video directed us to an Instagram video, uploaded on 28 December 2023. This was three days before the earthquake in Japan, and it displayed the same visual of a building collapse. The video depicted a building being demolished using explosives. Although we were unable to determine the exact time and location, this video has no connection to the 2024 earthquake in Japan. Similarly, older videos from Japanese floods are being circulated as recent footage.
Another series of video clips showing huge skyscrapers imploding are being shared on social media, linking them to the Japan 2024 earthquake. However, our investigation found these visuals to be old and unrelated to the Japan earthquake. These clips actually show the demolition of skyscrapers in China.
Update (05 January 2024):
Video 5:
Another video containing multiple clips is being widely shared on social media claiming that it shows the visuals of the 2024 Japan earthquake. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Images 1:
A reverse image search of the viral video has led us to the same visuals (here and here) that were uploaded a few years ago on several YouTube channels attributing them to the Mexican Earthquake in 2017. Media reports regarding these visuals can be seen here and here.
A set of pictures is being shared on social media, allegedly showing the devastation created by the January 2024 Japan earthquake. However, through our investigation(reverse image search), we found these images to be old and unrelated to this earthquake. In the order they appear in the viral post, the original old images can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Update (04 January 2024):
Video 4:
A video of a woman evacuating children from a hospital has been circulating widely on social media, with claims that the footage is related to the 2024 Japan earthquake. Let’s verify the authenticity of the claim.
A reverse image search of the viral video led us to the same footage, published on the Turkish media channel, TRT News, on 13 February 2023. The description suggests that the video features a nurse named Seyma Alakus, who risked her life to rescue children during the 2023 Türkiye earthquake. This video was also tweeted by the Turkish Health Ministry at the time, praising her actions.
Published (03 January 2024):
Video-1
To check the claim’s veracity, we performed a reverse image search online, leading us to old news reports (here and here) related to the viral video.
Reportedly, the visuals show the 2011 Japan Tsunami. You can see the viral visuals here, here, and here.
Video-2
A reverse image search on a few of this video’s keyframes revealed that this video was originally from 2022. It was reportedly filmed in January 2022 when a volcano erupted in Tonga.
You can find the original video here, here, and here.
Video-3
This viral video contains multiple clips of water flooding streets or huge waves of a sea hitting the coast of some towns, all of which are being shared as the recent visuals of the Tsunami in Japan. However, through a reverse image search on individual keyframes of these video clips, we found that all of them are old and unrelated to the 2024 Japan earthquake.
You can see the original old videos in the order they appear in the viral video: here, here, here, and here.
Breaking video: The moment a landslide occurred in Atami, Japan, leaving 20 people missing. pic.twitter.com/Kukq6ndvlh
To sum up, old and unrelated visuals are falsely shared as those of the 2024 Japan earthquake.