Fake videos have been spreading on social media, along with baseless information, following a powerful earthquake that struck northern Japan. Fake videos generated by AI have become sophisticated and it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell whether the information is real or not.
The magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture on Monday.
A video was posted on the popular video-sharing app TikTok that showed a woman reporting about a tsunami hitting a beach, which was not a correct account of the situation. It was viewed more than 20,000 times.
A video containing unfounded information inciting fear was also posted on Instagram. It claimed that the earthquake was generated artificially.
And a post on X that said a magnitude 6 earthquake could strike Japan through Monday was deemed as predicting the strong quake. It was shared by many on the platform and gained 2.6 million views.
But the X account carried a number of groundless "predictions" and the recent post was a mere coincidence.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says information that names a specific time and place of a potential earthquake is likely to be fake.
A video on YouTube claimed that solar flares, or explosions on the sun's surface, which cause disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field, may trigger a mega quake. It was viewed more than 500,000 times and people left comments such as it came true.
Many people feel insecure during a disaster, and fake information that may increase people's anxiety tend to spread quickly. Such information may obstruct disaster response operations.
In July this year, when a tsunami warning was issued following the mega quake that struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, AI generated fake images of giant waves were shown.
It is recommended that people should make it a habit of checking the account to confirm what kind of posts the author normally makes to avoid sharing unreliable information. People are advised to take precautions such as referring to information released by public organizations.

Quiz 1:
What social media platform did a video appear on that showed a woman reporting about a tsunami hitting a beach, which was not accurate?
A. Instagram
B. TikTok
C. YouTube
D. Twitter

Quiz 2:
Where did the magnitude 7.5 earthquake strike on Monday?
A. Eastern coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan
B. Western coast of Hokkaido, Japan
C. Southern coast of Honshu Island, Japan
D. Northern coast of Kyushu Island, Japan

Quiz 3:
Which of the following posts about potential earthquakes was deemed as a mere coincidence?
A. A post on X saying a magnitude 6 earthquake could strike Japan through Monday
B. A video on YouTube claiming that solar flares may trigger a mega quake
C. Information released by public organizations about the potential earthquake
D. AI generated fake images of giant waves during a tsunami warning