A tsunami surge was triggered in Tonga following a underwater volcanic eruption in the South Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022. The disaster wreaked havoc in the island nation and killed 3 people. Following this, a video surfaced on social media platforms showing some men and women capturing visuals of waves to suggest how people risked their lives to film the tsunami.
A Facebook user shared the video with a caption saying, “Tonga… Don’t be this guy after underwater volcano erupts causing tsunami warnings…the banana tree isn’t worth it.”
The video is also viral on Twitter with a similar claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral video and found it to be shared with a false claim.
With the help of a Reverse Image Search on keyframes, we found a longer version of the video uploaded on ‘MEMBAYANG TV‘ YouTube channel on December 6, 2021.
The viral part can be seen at 1 minute and 53 seconds mark in this video. The longer video shows the man speaking to the camera in Indonesian local language and then later performing some boxing stunts on a tree wearing a life jacket. Some other men and women can also be seen filming near a water body when waves reach the ground.
As per the description and replies in the comments section of the video, it was recorded on December 6, at the Ogis beach Indonesia, Riau, Pelalawan, Teluk Meranti.
One can also find several other videos of the man seen in the viral clip doing stunts on the same YouTube channel.
Therefore, it can be concluded that an old video is being falsely linked to the recent tsunami in Tonga.
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