Old footage falsely linked to Mount Semeru's November 2025 eruption
- Published on November 25, 2025 at 05:55
- 2 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
After Mount Semeru in the main Indonesian island of Java erupted on November 19, 2025, social media posts shared old clips of a volcanic mudflow falsely claiming they showed its impact on the waterfalls situated at the foot of the volcano. The videos predate the latest eruption, and local tour guides and guesthouse owners told AFP that while the area had been lightly covered with volcanic ash, the site remained open to visitors as usual.
"Moments of cold lava flood at Tumpak Sewu yesterday," reads an Indonesian-language post on Facebook on November 20.
It shares two clips showing torrential mud flowing alongside a waterfall.
Tumpak Sewu refers to a tourist attraction located on the slopes of Java's highest mountain, Mount Semeru, which has been affected several times by eruptions (archived here, here, and here).
The video circulated widely after another eruption on November 19, which spewed ash and gas more than 13 kilometres (eight miles) into the air, prompting officials to raise the alert status to its highest level.
According to the Indonesian disaster agency, volcanic activity had largely calmed but remained unstable on November 20. Nearly 900 people were moved to shelters in schools, mosques, and village halls following the eruption.
The footage also spread on Facebook and TikTok, where some comments indicate users believed the Semeru eruption was powerful enough to trigger a lava flow at Tumpak Sewu.
"Hopefully there are no casualties," one user wrote.
"Oh my God. The lava even reached Tumpak Sewu," another commented.
But the clips are old and unrelated.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the first clip led to an article published by local media organisation Kompas on January 10, 2025 (archived link).
The article contains screenshots of a TikTok video credited to user rikafna14 and says it shows a volcanic mudflow (archived here and here).
"Tumpak Sewu, 8 January 2025," the clip's caption reads.
A subsequent reverse image search on the second clip led to another TikTok post uploaded on February 3, 2024 (archived link).
"Flashflood at Tumpak Sewu waterfall; 31 January 2024," Indonesian-language text on the video reads.
Another video on TikTok posted on the same day, and a clip from Kompas on its official YouTube channel on February 2, 2024, show the same mudslide (archived here and here).
Media organisation Detik also reported on the incident at the time and quoted a local tourism official who said a mudflow had occurred in the area (archived link).
Tour guides and guesthouse owners in the Tumpak Sewu area confirmed to AFP on November 20, 2025 that tourism activities at the waterfalls remained normal, as only volcanic ash had reached the area.
"As of today, people are still going there," one guide said.
Another tour guide also uploaded a TikTok post showing the condition of Tumpak Sewu waterfall after the latest Semeru eruption (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to disasters in Indonesia.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
