Video appearing to show Philippine volcano's 'fiery eruption' bears signs of AI

"Mt. Kanlaon erupted on December 9, 2024," read the caption of a Facebook reel shared the same day, which has since been viewed 3.8 million times.

The compilation of clips appeared to show a fiery volcanic eruption, including one shot from an extremely high altitude.

Text overlaid on the video claims the eruption produced 5,000-meter-high ash plumes into the sky, with "pyroclastic flows and sulphur rains" prompting evacuations.

Image

Screenshot of false post taken December 12, 2024

Mount Kanlaon on the central Philippine island of Negros is one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago nation located in the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire", which is home to more than half of the world's volcanoes.

Kanlaon's eruption on December 9 forced the evacuation of 15 surrounding villages as plume rose above the vent, with red-hot ash and other materials falling on its southeastern slope (archived link).  

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) warned that the activity indicated a "magmatic eruption has begun and may progress to further explosive eruptions". 

The video compilation was shared in similar Facebook posts here, here and here, where users appeared to believe the video genuinely showed Kanlaon erupting.

"So this is how the volcano exploded," one user said.

"It's so scary," another commented.

However, the clips bear signs of AI and do not accurately depict the eruption.

'Misleading'

The video was posted by a user called Roman Verano Romblon, who identifies as an "artist" and "video editor", and has previously shared AI-generated content, such as here and here.

"It is clear that the video is generated by AI," Shu Hu, head of Purdue University's Purdue Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab in the United States, told AFP on December 14, 2024 (archived link).

Shu pointed out the video contained a visual error, as the trees around the volcano remained still despite the eruption. 

The eruption shown in the circulating video also does not accurately portray Kanlaon's volcanic activity in December, according to PHIVOLCS.

"No lava erupted and the plume was only 4-kilometre-high (2.5-mile)," a representative for the agency told AFP on December 12, adding the video was "misleading".

The agency added that contrary to the video, the pyroclastic flow -- the mixture of hot gas, ash, and rocks that flows down a volcano during an eruption -- cascaded downhill, instead of shooting skyward.

"There were also no sulphur rains, only ashfall," the agency added, noting evacuation was recommended "because of the overall condition and threat of a magmatic eruption".

An official clip of Kanlaon's eruption posted by PHIVOLCS does not show bright flames within the ash plumes (archived link).

Another video verified by AFP as showing the actual eruption also showed no evidence of flaming hot lava being emitted by Kanlaon shortly after it erupted at 3:03 p.m. (0703 GMT) (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video in the false post (left) and footage of the eruption from PHIVOLCS (right):

Image

AFP has previously debunked misinformation regarding volcanoes.