An old video showing three people being swept away by a tidal wave is viral online with the false claim that the video is from Japan's recent earthquake.
BOOM found that the claims are false and the video shows a tidal bore that occurred in Indonesia in December 2021.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred in Japan's Ishikawa prefecture on January 1, followed by a tsunami on Japan's western coast. Rescue operations have begun and the death toll of the earthquake has reached 48. Countries including Russia and South Korea have issued tsunami warnings as well.
The viral video shows a man standing near the coast with his arms spread wide, a woman alongside him, and a man shooting the tsunami using a selfie stick. A few second later, they are all washed away by the waves. A caption on X reads, Don't ever do this during #tsunami. Stay home stay safe. #earthquake #JapanEarthquake #earthquake #Japan"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The post is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "WTF WAS HE THINKING!?! #japan #earthquake #tsunami"
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video shows a tidal bore that occurred in Indonesia in December 2021 and is unrelated to the recent Japan earthquake.
We ran a reverse image search of some key frames from the viral video on Yandex and found a YouTube video shared on January 17, 2022 that carried visuals similar to the viral video. The video was titled 'Tsunami in the times of Tik Tok, a madness to record the best moment' and showed three clips in the same frame: from the point of view of each person in the viral video including the woman and the man with the selfie stick. See here.
In this video, the clip shown in the third frame is a match to the viral video.
We ran a reverse image search of these visuals again on Google and found an Indonesian news report published on December 9, 2021 that carried a similar visual of the woman seen in the viral clip.
A report by Detik News published on December 9, 2021, mentioned how the video was taken during a Bono wave, also known as a tidal bore, in Riau. The report also quoted an official who explained how tidal bores were a common tourist attraction near the Kampar River in Riau, where the video was shot.
Taking a clue from this, we ran a search for the video on YouTube using Ombak Bono, the Indonesian word for tidal bores, and found a video similar to the viral video shared on December 7, 2021. This video was taken from the point of the view of the man in the red t-shirt carrying a selfie stick. At 3:49, the woman and the man near the tree are also visible in the frame.
BOOM could not independently verify the exact date the video was taken, but it is at least as old as early December 2021 and is unrelated to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
