Japanese tsunami video predates 2024 earthquake by more than a decade | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
1

The claim: Video shows tsunami wave hitting Suzu City in Japan on Jan. 1

A Jan. 1 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a large wave spilling onto a residential street and carrying away numerous cars and boats.

"Wave hitting Suzu City in Japan," reads the video's on-screen text.

The post's description presents the footage as current, saying, "Tsunami warning have (sic) been issued in Japan ... 7.5 scale earthquake in Japan."

The post garnered more than 700 likes in one day. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The video is unrelated to the nation's Jan. 1 earthquake. It was filmed in Miyako City, Japan, in 2011.

Video captured during Japan's 2011 earthquake

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan on Jan. 1, killing more than 60 people as of Jan. 3. Following the earthquake, Japanese officials issued the first major tsunami warning in more than a decade.

Though the earthquake's epicenter was located near Suzu City, the Instagram video doesn't show footage of a tsunami related to the Jan. 1 disaster.

The Japanese news network ANN News shared a flipped version of the video on YouTube in 2020. The footage predates the Jan. 1 earthquake by more than a decade and wasn't filmed in Suzu City, according to the title, which reads, "Tsunami, Great East Japan Earthquake - Miyako city, Iwate Pref, Japan [11 Mar 2011]."

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Clips of the video were included in a 2011 broadcast by the network about the earthquake, known as the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami event. The disaster, which is often referred to as the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, left more than 18,000 dead. Similar footage taken from a different angle was shared by the Japanese network NHK in February 2023.

A close-up photograph of the 2011 tsunami captured by Reuters shows a street sign that says, "Miyako," which can also be seen in the blurry Instagram video. A similar photograph of the wave was included in an English edition of the earthquake and tsunami records of Miyako City.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video doesn't shown January 2024 tsunami in Japan | Fact check