The false claim surfaced after a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southern Japan on August 8, but no major damage was reported and only relatively minor tsunami waves lashed the coast (archived link).
Japanese authorities warned about a potential “megaquake” after the jolt before it was lifted a week later.
The same video was viewed more than 117,000 times alongside the claim on YouTube here and here. Similar false posts were shared here and here on Facebook.
However, the video shows the tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake that hit the East Asian country in 2011.
Old footage
At least two scenes from the false video can be seen in a clip aired by Japanese broadcaster TBS News, affiliated with the Japan News Network (JNN) (archived link).
The TBS video was published on February 25, 2021 with a caption that said it showed archive footage of the tsunami that hit the coast of Miyako city on March 11, 2011.
“Valuable footage from that time at JNN stations will be archived to raise disaster prevention awareness and pass on the memories of that time to future generations,” its caption read.
Two vehicles were shown in a parking lot as it slowly filled with water at the 43-second mark before dozens of vehicles and blue containers were washed away at the one-minute 47-second mark.
The scenes matched the 12-second and 46-second marks of the false video, flipped horizontally from the earlier footage.
Below are screenshot comparisons of those scenes in the false video (left) and the TBS News footage (right):
Similarly, another scene from the false video matches a clip published by Japanese broadcaster Minaminihon Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) on March 11, 2023 (archived link).
The MBC clip was aired to mark the 12th anniversary of the 2011 earthquake, the report said.
Several people were filmed watching the devastation from higher ground at the 42-second mark of the MBC video, which matches the scene at the false video’s 54-second mark.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the MBC footage (right):
The location in the footage circulated online generally corresponds with an image tagged at a pier in Miyako on Google Maps (archived link) in 2021, as shown in the screenshot comparison below:
AFP has debunked other false claims related to the earthquake in August 2024 in Japan here and here.
