Old tsunami video falsely linked to April 2026 earthquake in Japan
Japanese authorities issued tsunami alerts after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the country’s north on April 20, 2026, but footage circulating online showing a neighbourhood engulfed by massive waves is not linked to the latest jolt. It dates back to March 2011, when Japan’s strongest earthquake on record triggered a deadly tsunami and sparked the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
“Scenes of tsunami devastation after 7.4 earthquake in Japan,” says an Urdu-language caption of a Facebook video shared on April 21, 2026.
It shows water engulfing a neighbourhood and sweeping away cars before the area eventually becomes submerged.
Comments in Japanese can also be heard in the background. “It’s dangerous here,” one said, while another said “it’s insane.”
Screenshot of the false post captured on April 21, 2026, with a red X added by AFP
AFP has previously debunked other false claims using the same visual. It resurfaced after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake — initially estimated to be a magnitude 7.4 — struck northern Japan on April 20.
The jolt was so intense that it shook large buildings in the capital Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres (miles) away from the epicentre (archived link).
Japan issued a warning for tsunami waves of up to three metres (10 feet) but it was lifted hours after an 80-centimetre (31-inch) wave hit a port in Kuji in Iwate, one among a series of small waves that hit elsewhere in northern Japan (archived link).
The false video has spread elsewhere on social media — including on the Facebook page of Mexican media organisation Exclusivas MX, whose watermark can be seen.
But there are no official reports about a tsunami matching the scale seen in the video following the 2026 quake, which did not appear to cause any major damage (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes led to a longer clip showing the same scene with a wider angle shared on YouTube on December 19, 2011 (archived link).
The video’s title reads in a mix of English and Japanese: “Ishinomaki City, Tsunami, TSUNAMI JAPAN,” along with a date, March 11, 2011.
A 9.0-magnitude quake hit northeastern Japan on the day — the country’s strongest on record — leaving at least 18,500 people killed or missing and sparking a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant (archived link).
It also triggered a tsunami with waves up to 10 metres (33 feet) — much higher than those reported after the April 2026 quake (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the original video, with the same elements highlighted by AFP
FNN 311, a YouTube channel that Japan’s Fuji News Network launched to commemorate victims of the earthquake, also uploaded a video showing the scene on October 26, 2012 (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the April 2026 Japan earthquake.
