Old, unrelated visuals falsely linked to Japan earthquake

By: Ankita Kulkarni
January 2 2024

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Screenshot showing the viral post on social media.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

A 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck central Japan on January 1, 2024, followed by around 60 tremors, according to BBC News. Multiple buildings were destroyed causing an estimated 48 people deaths and injuring dozens more. The report added that the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) had issued a tsunami warning after the initial quake that triggered waves of about 1m at the Sea of Japan coastline in Ishikawa. However, the warning was eventually downgraded to an advisory.    

What is the claim? 

Since then, social media users have circulated multiple old and unrelated videos claiming that they show destruction in Japan caused by the earthquake.

Logically Facts has analyzed keyframes from these videos and found many that predate the recent earthquake and found that some were not even captured in Japan.

Screenshots showing the viral posts circulating on social media.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

What are the facts? 

Video 1

A 1:50-minute video shows massive waves hitting the coastline and onlookers being swept away from the shore. Sharing the video (archived here) a user claimed that it was from Japan and wrote, “Terrible situation in #Japan #tsunami alert.. ##earthquake #緊急地震速報.”

Screenshot showing the viral post.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the narration in the video mentions that it was captured in California. Text reading “Action News 6 abc” is visible at the end of the clip, a local television station in Philadelphia. We found the same video uploaded on the channel’s YouTube account on December 29, 2023, titled, “Rogue wave hits California, flooding streets and sweeping people off their feet in Ventura.”

On December 28, 2023, CNN reported that offshore storms in Ventura County, California, led to flooding and road closures. It added that at least 20 people were briefly swept away and eight people were taken to the hospital. 

Video 2

A 13-second clip (archived here) shows a river of mud rushing through a residential area sweeping away homes and destroying utility poles. The video is captioned, “Ohhhh...this is very scary, people screaming. Impact of 7.6 magnitude earthquake in central #Japan.”

Screenshot showing the viral post.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

A reverse image search of this video led us to a similar video posted by The Guardian on its YouTube channel dated July 3, 2021, titled, “Landslide hits resort town of Atami in Japan.” The description box detailed that following the heavy rainfall in Atami a torrent of mud led to a huge landslide and swept away homes. It added that at least 19 people were reported missing.

The exact video was also uploaded by the U.K. newspaper The Sun on YouTube giving similar details noting that two were killed in the disaster and dozens of homes were buried. This shows that the video predates the recent earthquake.

Video 3

A minute-long video (archived here) shows aerial footage of a flooded city, and cars, buildings, and debris being washed away. The user has captioned the video, "Tsunami in Japan | Stay safe and informed. #JapanTsunami #StaySafe #EmergencyResponse #NaturalDisaster."

Screenshot showing the viral post.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, no severe tsunami was reported in Japan on January 1, 2024. At the time of publication, both this report and the tsunami warning have been downgraded to an advisory. We found that the viral clip is from the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 and is not recent. 

The viral clip is visible in a video uploaded by CNN on YouTube on March 12, 2011, from the 0:33 seconds timestamp. The video was titled, “Watch a massive tsunami engulf entire towns in Japan (2011).” The video report adds that it shows water flowing through the city of Sendai and other towns in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast. A screenshot of the aerial footage was published in a report by The Guardian on March 11, 2011. 

Video 4

Another video (archived here) shows waves toppling and rocking boats and yachts at a coastline and water flowing onto streets and residential areas. Sharing the video, users have claimed it to be from the recent earthquake that struck Japan.

Screenshot showing the viral post.(Source: X/Screenshot/Modified by Logically Facts) 

However, the video is old and was captured during the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan's Miyako city. Logically Facts debunked the video in December 2023 when it was falsely connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

All the evidence mentioned above makes it clear that all four viral videos were captured days or years before the recent earthquake struck Japan. 

The verdict 

Videos claiming to show the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Japan have been on the internet before the current disaster struck the country. Therefore we have marked the claim as false.