Supposed CCTV clip showing northern Japan earthquake is AI-generated
- Published on April 24, 2026 at 11:00
- 2 min read
- By Pasika KHERNAMNUOY, AFP Thailand
A powerful 7.7 earthquake in northern Japan jolted buildings hundreds of kilometres away, but footage of swaying buildings that circulated widely on social media does not depict the April 20 tremor. The clip circulated months before the quake and contains visual errors commonly found in AI-generated content.
"A 7.4 earthquake in Japan!! High-rise buildings and houses were swaying back and forth -- it was very frightening," reads the Thai-language caption of a Facebook video shared on April 21, 2026.
The video appears to show CCTV footage of high-rise buildings at an intersection swaying during an earthquake.
It circulated after northern Japan was struck by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on April 20, triggering tsunami waves of up to 80 centimetres (31 inches) at a port in Kuji, Iwate prefecture (archived link).
The jolt was so intense that it shook large buildings in the capital Tokyo, hundreds of kilometres from the epicentre, though no major damage was reported (archived link).
The footage amassed millions of views in similar social media posts, shared in several languages.
"Their buildings are really up to standard," reads a comment on one of the posts.
Another says: "If this were in Thailand, the building would have collapsed like the State Audit Office building last time."
While strict regulations in Japan -- which faces regular earthquakes -- help buildings there to withstand tremors, the clip circulating on social media is AI-generated (archived link).
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a higher-quality version shared on TikTok on December 15, 2025 (archived link).
The clip is timestamped "2025/12/15" and its caption reads: "Earthquake cctv #cctv #earthquake #japan #austrila."
The video was uploaded by a user who has posted AI-generated videos in the past (archived here and here).
AFP reached out to the user for comment, but did not receive a response by time of publication.
A closer analysis of the footage shows it contains visual anomalies that are tell-tale signs of AI-generated content, such as illegible text resembling Chinese and Korean on signs and road markings, and inconsistent crosswalk markings at the intersection.
The video appears to be CCTV footage but the camera itself does not appear to shake during the supposed earthquake. Similarly, a nearby convenience store and parked cars remain still even while entire buildings and pylons are swaying.
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the earthquake off Japan's eastern coast in April 2026.
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