Misinformation about Nankai earthquake spreads on social media; Japanese government asks platforms to take action

File photo from the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper A woman looks at a smartphone in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, in June.

Yomiuri Shimbun

14:01 Japan Time, August 10, 2024

Misinformation and suspicious posts have been spreading on social media, sparking fears after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a warning called “Attention for a Major Earthquake.” The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on Friday asked four social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter, to take appropriate measures against misinformation based on their terms of service.

Since Thursday, the baseless prediction that the “Nankai Basin earthquake will occur on August 14, 2024” has been circulating on X.com. While an anonymous user posted the post in 2018, it is believed that the post went viral after the agency's advisory was issued.

The Yomiuri Shimbun used a social media analysis tool provided by Tokyo-based data analytics firm User Local Inc. to search for posts on X containing the words “August 14” and “Nankai Basin.” The results showed that while there were no such posts from Aug. 1 through Wednesday, there were nearly 70,000 on Thursday and Friday.

False rumors claiming Thursday's quake was an “artificial earthquake” by the government also spread with posts featuring images of clouds and the hashtag “earthquake clouds.” In response to the posts, Kentaro Araki, a senior researcher at the agency's Meteorological Research Institute, said on X on Thursday: “Clouds cannot be a harbinger of earthquakes. It is impossible to predict earthquakes from the appearance of clouds.”

Additionally, searching for “earthquake” or “Megathrust Earthquake Attention” on X generates numerous spam posts that redirect users to adult sites, making it difficult to find earthquake-related information.

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