General News

Aomori Quake Disinformation Spreads on Social Media

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara speaks at a press conference on Tuesday, urging the public to “verify disaster-related information through government, local authorities, and media outlets.”

Jiji Press

10:47 JST, December 10, 2025

Tokyo, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)—Disinformation regarding a powerful earthquake that mainly hit Aomori Prefecture and other parts of Japan’s Tohoku northeastern region Monday night is being spread on X and other social media platforms, including a claim that the temblor was created artificially.

Fake videos believed to have been created using generative artificial intelligence are also going viral.

False information on social media during times of disasters has been a major social issue, including in the wake of the January 2024 earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency and the Cabinet Office are calling on people not to spread such disinformation, in order to avoid confusion.

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Claims that “an artificial earthquake has occurred” and that the user “learned about a government conspiracy” were posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, starting immediately after the earthquake late Monday.

On the microblogging app Threads, a groundless prediction posted before the temblor saying that there is a possibility of an earthquake on Monday gained attention, with some users replying that the poster had a great ability.

“The government does not announce earthquake predictions, including the date of a megaquake,” the JMA said.

On the video-sharing app TikTok, there were posts of videos of past tsunamis that falsely claimed they were taken on Monday, and fake news videos that appeared to be made by generative AI. The fake news videos stated that the epicenter of the quake was the northern area of Tokyo Bay and that a tsunami of record size struck Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan.

TikTok’s operator is calling on users to verify information with reliable sources when viewing disaster-related posts.

Following the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, there was a fake plea for help on social media by a user posing as a disaster victim. In 2016, a social media post falsely claimed that a lion had been released from a zoo following a massive quake in Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan.