Old Video Shared As A Recent Earthquake In Japan.

On April 20, 2026, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the Sanriku Coast of Honshu, Japan. Against this backdrop, a video of people huddling together during an earthquake went viral on social media claiming it to be a scene from the recent earthquake in Japan. Sharing the video a user wrote, “A powerful magnitude 7.4–7.7 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan at approximately 4:53 p.m. local time on Monday, April 20, 2026. 

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi established a crisis management team and issued urgent evacuation orders, pleading with residents in coastal areas to move to higher ground immediately.”

Instagram Link | Archived Link.

However, upon investigation, we discovered that the claim was misleading. The viral video is old. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by taking screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to the Reddit website where the viral clip was uploaded on May 27, 2024. The caption read, “On January 1, 2024, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Japan. The quake caused significant damage and at least 30 people lost their lives.”

Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to the YouTube channel ABC7 where the viral video was uploaded on January 3, 2024.

The description of the video read, “Shoppers huddled together as a store shook in Oyabe, Japan, after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit. “The shaking was so strong that I couldn’t walk,” Koichi Teramae said. He recorded this video after the lights in the store had gone out.”

Another report, available on the official Facebook page of ABC News, can be viewed below.

Other reports can be seen here and here.

This makes it clear that the viral video is old.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is misleading. The viral video doesn’t show a recent earthquake in Japan. This is an old video from January 2024.