AI-generated clip of horse shielding owner during Japan quake misleads online
- Published on April 28, 2026 at 05:50
- Updated on April 28, 2026 at 11:48
- 2 min read
- By Hawon Jung, AFP South Korea
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's northern coast on April 20, but footage of a horse supposedly protecting its owner during the disaster shared online is actually AI-generated. The clip, which contains visual inconsistencies characteristic of fabricated content, first surfaced on social media nearly a month before the quake.
"Horse protects its owner when a 7.4 earthquake hit Japan," reads Korean-language text over a video shared on Instagram on April 24, 2026.
The 16-second clip shows a horse appearing to manouever its body to cover a woman as its stable is rattled by a powerful tremor.
The claim surfaced across social media posts in multiple languages after a strong 7.7-magnitude quake struck in Pacific waters off northern Japan's Iwate prefecture on April 20, triggering a tsunami warning (archived link). Authorities initially estimated the magnitude at 7.4 before revising it upwards.
At least six people were injured but no casualties or major damage were reported (archived link).
Some users left comments indicating they believed the footage of the horse was genuine.
"These animals are better than humans!" said one.
"It was truly a moment when I strongly felt the intelligence and emotions of the animals," another wrote.
However, the video appeared online before the northern Japan quake and is synthetically created.
Reverse image searches on Google found the earliest example of the post on Facebook on March 28, 2026, titled, "Brave Horse Shields Woman During Strong Earthquake."
Another X post on April 20, 2026 featured a disclaimer that the video is AI-generated.
Close inspection of the clip found several visual inconsistencies indicative of AI-generated content, including a bucket that tips over and spills water but appears to not have a bottom.
The horse also appears to step on the woman's head but she shows little reaction and no signs of pain. The walls of the stall also appear to explode and collapse, but when the dust clears the walls are completely undamaged.
An analysis using the Hive Moderation AI detection tool found the video is 99.9 percent "likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content" (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to the April 20 earthquake in Japan.
Refiles to add AFP South Korea in metadataApril 28, 2026 Refiles to add AFP South Korea in metadata
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
