Russia earthquake: No, the tsunami has not left Beluga Whales stranded

The 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Russia has triggered a tsunami warning for Alaska, Japan, Hawaii and parts of New Zealand. However, there is another tsunami that has taken over social media, of fake videos and photos. People are sharing images and footage of previous earthquakes and tsunamis, wrongly stating that they are from Wednesday's earthquake. One video in particular that has gone viral shows a woman sitting inside a shop when a massive earthquake jolts everything, triggering the cabinets and everything around her to fall down. The woman immediately ducks down to protect herself, when more shaking causes the remaining almirahs and objects to topple down as well. People on X were quick to point out that the video is old and unrelated to the latest event. It wasn't clear where the video was from, but some people flagged that it was from the 2011 Japan earthquake. A few others stated that it was from the Myanmar earthquake that caused devastation in March this year. Also Read: 'Ryo Tatsuki was right': 8.7 earthquake in Russia sets social media abuzz with Japan's Baba Vanga's prophecy

Fake videos and photos of Russia earthquake

Another video doing the rounds on social media shows two people working near a shore far inland in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. The ocean water starts rising and waves lash the shore, and within seconds, they cover a large part of the land, crashing violently. The two men run off while the person shooting the video also scampers away with his camera shaking incessantly. Users pointed out that it is an old video and they had seen it months ago. Again, the exact date and the event are not known.

Stranded beluga whales falsely claimed to be linked to Russia earthquake and tsunami

A third video shows five beluga whales stranded on a shore in Russia with rescue workers around them. Some posts stated that the whales washed ashore following the massive earthquake and were stranded due to high tide. Others highlighted them as an ominous sign, saying that they were seen a few days back and were a warning sign for the earthquake and tsunami. Grok clarified that this happened nearly two years back, on August 14, 2023. The footage is from the coast of Kamchatka, Russia, and the whales were stranded "likely due to a high tide influenced by a tsunami or earthquake." They were successfully rescued at the time by the Sokol family artel.