A video circulating on social media showing people trapped in a shopping mall following an explosion in Japan has been debunked as footage from a 2024 earthquake.
The clip, which depicts individuals crouching and appearing distressed, is being shared with false captions linking it to the 7.1-magnitude tremor that struck the southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday.
G1 Globo confirmed that the scenes are from a seismic event recorded on January 1, 2024, and not from the recent disaster.
The misinformation has spread quickly across platforms, potentially confusing the public and complicating emergency response efforts as authorities assess the actual impact of the Tuesday quake.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake caused significant infrastructure damage and widespread power outages in Kumamoto.
While the physical toll is being evaluated, the digital fallout highlights the persistent challenge of verifying real-time information during natural disasters.