[ad_1]
Old footage of a tsunami that hit a city in Miyagi Prefecture, eastern Japan, in 2011 has been viewed more than a million times with the false claim that it was recorded after a powerful earthquake in August 2024. Authorities said only minor tsunamis were recorded after the recent earthquake that struck southern Japan.
“Japan: 7.1 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale,” reads the text at the top of a four-minute video on Facebook. video It has been viewed over 1.5 million times since it was posted on August 11, 2024.
The footage appears to have been filmed from the roof of a building, and shows cars being swept away by floodwaters.
The text below the video says: “Tsunami Earthquake.”
The comment refers to a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. earthquake which struck southern Japan on August 8, no major damage was reported and only relatively minor tsunami waves hit the coast (Archived link).
Authorities warned of the possibility of a “huge earthquake” after the quake, before lifting it a week later.
The video was also posted alongside a similar false claim on Facebook and YouTube.
But it does not show a recent tsunami. The clip was captured during Worst natural disaster In living memory of Japan — the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown of March 11, 2011 that left more than 18,500 dead or missing.
Old footage of the tsunami
AFP has previously debunked posts that falsely linked the clip to Collapse Hydroelectric dam in Laos and storm In Japan.
The clip matches Shots Posted on YouTube by Fuji News Network (FNN) October 2012, with a watermark indicating it was taken on March 11, 2011 in Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture, eastern Japan (Archived link).
The video's YouTube caption indicates that it was filmed by an employee from the roof of the Ishinomaki Gas Company building.
Here's a comparison between the screenshots in the fake posts (left) and the FNN screenshots (right):
Video location matches Google Maps photo The three blue tubular towers and two blue spherical structures can be seen from the Ishinomaki Gas Company office (Archived link).
Here's a comparison of a screenshot of the structures in the FNN video (left) and the location on Google Maps (right), with similarities identified by AFP:
[ad_2]
Source