US tornado footage misrepresented as Typhoon Shanshan in Japan

Published on September 6, 2024 at 05:22
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

Dramatic footage of a tornado tearing through a warehouse in the US state of Nebraska was repeatedly shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed Typhoon Shanshan hitting Japan in August 2024. AFP confirmed the dashcam video, which was widely published by news media, was from a now-shuttered factory in the state capital Lincoln.

"The building disappeared," reads a Korean-language Instagram post that shared the video on August 30.

The post features hashtags including "Japan", "typhoon" and "Shanshan".

The video shows a powerful gale ripping apart trees and a building, with text overlaid that says: "The current situation in Japan due to Typhoon Shanshan".

Typhoon Shanshan slammed into southern Japan on August 29, leaving at least six dead and dozens injured.

The storm, which at landfall was one of the fiercest to hit Japan in decades, triggered transport havoc and landslides and left thousands of homes without power.

Screenshot of the misleading post shared on Instagram. Captured September 5.

The Nebraska tornado footage made the rounds in similar posts on Facebook and TikTok that falsely claimed it showed Shanshan.

Dashcam footage

A reverse image search found the same video published on May 6, 2024, by Reuters news agency, which described it as dashcam footage captured two weeks earlier in Lincoln, Nebraska (archived link).

The footage is credited to Kimthu Nguyen/Tri Tran.

A separate keyword search found the original high-quality footage shared on Tri Tran's YouTube channel on May 4, with the title: "Tornado in Lincoln Nebraska on 04-26-2024. Dash-cam in parking lot" (archived link).

According to Lincoln-based news outlet KOLN 10/11 NOW, the warehouse belonged to Garner Industries (archived link).

Below are screenshot comparisons between the footage shared in the false social media posts, and the original dashcam footage on Tri Tran's YouTube channel (right):

Screenshot comparisons between the footage shared in the false social media posts, flipped horizontally, and the original dashcam footage on Tri Tran's YouTube channel (right)

The tornado footage attracted international media attention, including from BBC News, Fox Weather and the South China Morning Post, which all reported that it was captured in Nebraska (archived here, here and here).

In its coverage of the aftermath of the tornado, Nebraska-based television station KETV showed footage of destruction that matched the scene in the dashcam video (archived link).

Meanwhile, Google Earth imagery of Garner Industries, located outside Lincoln, matches the video shared online (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between Tri Tran's footage (left) and a 3D representation of satellite imagery on Google Earth (right). AFP marked matching features in red.

Screenshot comparison between Tri Tran's footage (left) and a 3d representation of satellite imagery on Google Earth (right)

Google lists the Lincoln facility as permanently closed, which is confirmed by the KETV report.

AFP has previously debunked images and footage falsely linked to natural disasters in Japan in August 2024, including here, here and here.

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