Month-old video of flashfloods in Cebu falsely linked to September 2025 jolt

The 16-second video -- which features two clips -- has been viewed over 400,000 times since it was uploaded in the early hours of October 1.

Its caption reads, "Flooding in #Cebu City due to thunderstorms just an hour after the M6.9 earthquake hit. Continuous rain until early morning of October 1, still raining as of 3am."

Image

Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 1 with a red X added by AFP

It surfaced after a shallow magnitude 6.9 quake struck late on September 30 off Cebu island's northern end near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people, according to the US Geological Survey (archived link). 

As of October 2, the death toll has risen to 72, rescuers said, as officials turned their efforts to the hundreds of injured and thousands left homeless (archived link). 

There were also thunderstorms overnight in Cebu city, around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the earthquake's epicentre (archived here and here). 

The footage also spread elsewhere on Facebook, X and TikTok. 

While the second clip in the video was genuinely filmed after the September jolt, the first part -- from the beginning until the six-second mark -- predates the powerful earthquake. 

A keyword search shows it has been circulating online since August 15 (archived link). 

A Facebook user named Chastine Hortado, who uploaded the video, wrote in the comments on her post that she filmed the clip at Pahina San Nicolas village in Cebu city.

Image

Screenshot comparison of false post (L) and Facebook clip

The same buildings can be seen in Google Maps imagery around the Guadalupe River (archived link).

Image

Screenshot comparison of the original footage from August 15 (left) and Google Maps (right) with identical elements highlighted by AFP

Local media outlets such as ABS-CBN,  Cebu Daily News and SunStar Cebu reported that heavy rains caused massive flooding in swathes of the city on August 15 (archived here, here, and here). 

Residents living in the adjacent village of Pahina Central -- where part of the Guadalupe River was beginning to overflow -- were evacuated from their homes, according to ABS-CBN's and SunStar's reports. 

Further keyword searches on Facebook found another clip, also posted on August 15, showing flooding that night in another part of the river (archived here). 

The second clip was traced to a post made by news outlet DYLA Cebu Newsbreak on October 1 (archived link).

It was filmed by local resident Raffy Celis who told AFP he filmed it to show the flooding in his area due to predicted thunderstorms on the same night as the earthquake.