Claim
A simulated video of an underwater volcanic explosion has gone viral on social media with a false claim that it shows the recent Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano explosion in Tonga on January 14, 2022. The video is being shared with the caption, "Watch Tonga Volcano eruption under the sea. It's unbelievable. Watch till the end and see the aftermath. "
FactCheck
BOOM found that the simulated video was made by geologists to portray the destructive nature of underwater volcanic eruptions. Breaking the video into keyframes and running a reverse image search showed news report in Express, in October 2017, where 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". BOOM had previously fact-checked the same video in July 2019 when it was being shared with a false claim.
