2017 tsunami video from Durban shared as Tsunami in Japan after the earthquake in Russia.

This video shows a heavy tidal wave on a beach in Durban, South Africa, and it dates to back to 2017. 

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 8.8 struck off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday 30 July 2025, triggering a Pacific Ocean tsunami warning. Destructive tsunami waves could reach areas along the coasts of Russia and Japan in the next three hours, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The first waves triggered by the earthquake off Russia’s coast have reached Hawaii, with a 4ft (1.2m) wave recorded off Oahu. People in Hawaii, some parts of the US west coast and Japan have been told to evacuate after the earthquake.

Amidst this, we have noticed a viral video showing huge waves flooding a beach with the caption, “TSUNAMI HITS NOW JAPAN AFTER 8.7 EARTHQUAKE IN RUSSIA OTHER COASTAL COUNTRIES WERE ISSUED TSUNAMI WARNINGS” 

Let’s check the truth.

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Fact Check- 

Our investigation began with a reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, which led us to a similar video on YouTube uploaded by the Connect News SA channel 5 years ago. The caption states “Durban hit by mini tsunami” with a description Durban North Beach was hit by massive waves caused by a cyclone.

We searched more with the keywords and found multiple reports of the incident. According to a report in The Mirror from the time, the incident, which was referred to as a “mini-tsunami” was the result of a cyclone weather system off the coast of Madagascar. 

As per a report published in The Telegraph on 14 March 2017, Durban’s North Beach experienced an unexpected “mini-tsunami” when a massive wave crashed against the coastline, causing damage to beachside businesses and killing at least three people. The cyclone weather system off the Madagascar coast was responsible for the storm along the north beach in Durban, which caused the ‘mini Tsunami’, the report added.

Taking account of all these evidences we can understand that an old video from Duban shared linking to recent earthquake in Russia.

Conclusion- 

Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be False. The video shows a heavy tidal wave on a beach in Durban, South Africa, and dates to back to 2017. It has no connection to the recent earthquake in Russia.