Simulation Video of Underwater Volcanic Eruption Shared As Indonesia Earthquake

BOOM found that the video shows the impact of underwater volcanic eruptions and its destructive nature through computer generated simulation made by geologists in 2017.

The same video was viral in January this year as the Tonga volcanic eruptions and in 2019 as an eruption in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

West Java's Cianjur town was hit by a powerful earthquake on November 21, killing more than 160 and injuring over 300 people . Local administration sources confirmed to the BBC that the region is densely populated and prone to landslides with poorly built houses, which were reduced to rubble in many areas after the earthquake hit.

BOOM received the video via its WhatsApp helpline with the caption, "Volcano underwater eruption in Indonesia."

The video has been shared on Facebook with the same claim. View two Facebook posts here and here.

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Fact Check

BOOM ran a reverse image search on Google with keyframes from the video which led us to several news articles reporting on a simulation video of an underwater volcanic explosion.

News outlet Express reported in October 2017, an Australian geologist and a team of producers created "a video simulation of a huge volcanic eruption beneath the surface off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, to show just how devastating they can be".

The same video was also uploaded by Auckland War Memorial Museum on December 19, 2019 on YouTube with the title, Auckland Museum Volcano Simulation - Auckland Museum.

In video description the museum stated that, "This is an educational simulation of an earthquake caused by a volcanic eruption. It is also featured in our onsite Volcanoes Gallery".

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