Tag Archives: tsunami

Posts circulating online falsely imply a video shows a tsunami in Japan caused by an earthquake that hit the country yesterday (1 January 2024). 

The video shows boats and vehicles being carried by a large wave that spills over a road and into buildings. It has been shared across social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, with the suggestion it shows a tsunami caused by the recent quake. 

One post has the caption: “First tsunami waves have hit Japan after a major earthquake measuring 7.4”.

Yesterday’s earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.6 and 55 people are reported to have been killed at the time of publication. 

However, this video does not show a recent event—it shows a tsunami in Japan in March 2011,…

A post with hundreds of thousands of views on social media, including on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, incorrectly claims that a video is of a wave hitting Thailand in 2004, after the Indian Ocean tsunami. The video is actually from 2011 and shows a tsunami striking north-east Japan. 

The video is nearly a minute long, and at first shows a road with a number of cars turning around and driving out of frame. A wave gradually comes into shot, carrying with it a host of debris including cars and houses. 

The post on X says: “This security footage shows the moment the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit Khao Lak in Thailand. The disaster went on to claim the lives of an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries.”

Screengrabs from the video are included in an article…