2011 clip of tsunami at Sendai airport falsely linked to 2024 Japan quake

This article is more than one year old.
Published on January 11, 2024 at 13:04
Updated on January 11, 2024 at 13:17
3 min read
By Najmi Mamat, AFP Malaysia

Social media posts have shared a clip showing cars, aircraft and other debris being washed away by a deluge of water with a false claim that it was taken after an earthquake in western Japan on January 1, 2024. The footage, which has been viewed millions of times in recent posts, was in fact taken at Sendai airport in Japan's northeastern Miyagi prefecture, after a devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

"Everything was washed away by the tsunami. Including houses... cars... planes... helicopters," reads overlaid Malay text on a TikTok video posted on January 2, 2024.

The post's caption of reads: "A tsunami hit Japan due to a strong earthquake on 1.1.2024."

The clip, which run for over a minute, shows a large number of objects and vehicles -- including cars, aircraft and a helicopter -- being washed away by a torrent of water.

The video has been viewed more than 425,000 times.

Screenshot of the false post, captured on January 8, 2024

The post was uploaded a day after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake rattled Ishikawa prefecture, on the western coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, killing more than 200 people, according to official figures.

The New Year's Day earthquake triggered tsunami waves as high as three metres (10 feet) high, sparked a major fire in the port town of Wajima and tore apart roads.

The clip was also shared alongside a similar claim on TikTok here and here, and on Facebook here, racking up a total of more than 2.2 million views.

Similar posts also circulated in Indonesian.

However, the claim is false. The video was actually taken at an airport in northeastern Japan after a tsunami in March 2011.

2011 tsunami hit airport

A reverse image search on Google, followed by a keyword search in Japanese, found a longer video posted on YouTube by Japanese online media Sankei News on April 28, 2011 (archived link).

The four-minute, 16-second video also shows a deluge of water engulfing a runway, with overlaid Japanese text that says: "March 11, 2011. Filmed by the Japan Coast Guard Sendai Air Base" and "Sendai airport hit by tsunami".

According to the video's description, the footage was provided by the Japan Coast Guard.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in the false post (left) and the genuine video published by Sankei News (right):

Screenshot comparisons of the video in the false post (left) and the genuine video published by Sankei News (right)

Sendai airport is located in the city of Natori, Miyagi prefecture, in northeastern Japan (archived link)

Japan's northeastern coast was the hardest hit by the 9.0-magnitude undersea quake and the ensuing massive tsunami on March 11, 2011. The disaster left around 18,500 people dead or missing and triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The video was also published by Japanese broadcaster All-Nippon News Network and the US-based Wall Street Journal in late April 2011 (archived links here and here).

It was later uploaded on YouTube channel "2011 Japan Tsunami Archives," which posts videos shot by witnesses and others of the 2011 disaster (archived link).

AFP footage from the time shows the resulting wreckage at Sendai airport.

According to the Japanese foreign ministry, Sendai airport's runways and terminal buildings suffered massive damage after the March 2011 tsunami, resuming operations a month later (archived link).

AFP has debunked other images and clips from the 2011 disaster falsely shared as the 2024 quake, for example here, here and here.

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