A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan today, 20 April, 2026. The quake occurred at a depth of 10 to 19 km in the Pacific Ocean off the Sanriku coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) initially issued tsunami warnings forecasting waves of up to 3 metres (10 feet). Against this backdrop, a video filmed from street level showing an earthquake violently shaking buildings and electricity poles went viral on social media, claiming it to be from the recent earthquake in Japan. The caption states, “7.4 Magnitude Earthquake just struck off of North Japan. Tsunami warning in effect.”
Let’s check the truth.
Fact check:
We began our investigation with a reverse image search on Google, and the results led us to an Instagram post on 18 January 2024that contained a similar video to the viral clip. According to the caption, the video is from Japan. This indicates that though the viral video is from Japan, it is not recent.
Using these hints, we conducted further searches and found the viral video on a Japanese YouTube channel uploaded on 1 February, 2024.
According to the description, the video shows the earthquake in Japan on 1 January 2024. As per reports, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024, causing extensive damage to buildings in Suzu and Wajima, forcing mass evacuations, and triggering major tsunami warnings. The earthquake on New Year’s Day was Japan’s deadliest in over a decade, claiming nearly 470 lives.
So, taking account of all this evidence, we can understand that an old video of Japan Earthquake falsely shared as recent.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found the claim made along with the viral video to be Misleading. The viral video does not show the recent earthquake in Japan. It shows the Japan Earthquake in 2024.
Title: 2024 Japan earthquake video falsely shared as recent
Fact Check By: Usha Manoj
Result: Misleading
