Old video shows mudslide in central Japanese resort town, not landslide triggered by Typhoon Yagi

Published on September 25, 2024 at 06:49
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

Years-old footage of a mudslide that crashed through a popular resort town in Japan has resurfaced in social media posts viewed hundreds of thousands of times that falsely linked it to deadly flooding and landslides in Southeast Asia triggered by Typhoon Yagi. The cyclone dumped a colossal deluge of rain across China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar in September 2024, but the video was filmed in the Japanese city of Atami in July 2021.

"Terrifying," reads the Thai-language text superimposed on a TikTok video shared on September 16, 2024.

The 21-second-long clip, which was viewed more than 350,000 times, shows a torrent of mud and debris cascading down a hillside, tearing down power lines and engulfing vehicles and homes.

The video's caption included several hashtags such as "2024Flood" and "ChiangRaiFlood" that refer to flooding triggered by Typhoon Yagi in a northern Thai city -- which residents described as the worst in decades (archived link).

Yagi also swept through southern China, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar in early September with powerful winds and an enormous amount of rain that triggered floods and landslides, killing more than 700 people, according to official figures (archived link).

Screenshot of the falsely shared TikTok post, captured on September 24, 2024

The same footage, albeit flipped horizontally, was shared as part of video compilations on X and TikTok that claimed it showed the impact of Yagi on China and Vietnam.

But the clip does not show damage triggered by the typhoon -- AFP has previously debunked other false claims that shared the same footage here and here.

In fact, it shows a landslide that swept through a Japanese resort town in 2021.

Atami landslide

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video in the false post led to a compilation posted on YouTube by Japanese newspaper Sankei News on July 3, 2021 (archived link).

The first clip in the compilation is a longer version of the footage used in the false posts, and is credited to wire agency EyePress.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the false clip (left) and the Sankei News video (right):

Screenshot comparison between the false clip (left) and the Sankei News video (right)

The video's caption indicates it shows a mudslide sweeping through the Izusan neighbourhood of Atami, a town in Japan's Shizuoka prefecture, on July 3, 2021.

AFP reported that torrents of mud crashed through part of the town following days of heavy rain (archived link).

The town, around 90 kilometres (55 miles) southwest of Tokyo, saw rainfall of 313 millimetres in the 48 hours prior to the mudslide -- higher than the average monthly total for July of 242.5 millimetres, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The devastating landslide killed 27 people.

Google Street View imagery of Atami from June 2019 also shows the same red-brown building (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the building seen in the false post (left) and on Google Street View (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP:

Screenshot comparison between the false post (left) and the Google Street View imagery from June 2019 (right)

AFP has debunked other misinformation linked to the deadly flooding and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi here and here.

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