Fact check: Viral video shows tidal bore in Indonesia, not tsunami in Tonga

Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: Video shows a tsunami wave from recent volcanic eruption in Tonga

On Jan. 15, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted, sending plumes of smoke and debris 20 miles in the air and pummeling the Pacific island nation of Tonga with tsunami waves.

As people clamored for information, a video supposedly taken that day gained hundreds of thousands of views in various online posts.

In the video, a man in a blue lifejacket stands near what appears to be a cliff, while on the shore below, several people run from a large wave as it advances toward the camera. As it crashes into the man, he holds his arms up and cheers.

A satellite view of Tonga's Nomuka Island after a massive volcanic eruption took place on Jan. 15, 2022.
A satellite view of Tonga's Nomuka Island after a massive volcanic eruption took place on Jan. 15, 2022.

As the wave rises up over the cliff and knocks him over, he grabs a tree and pulls it with him. At the end of the video, he stands up, covered in mud.

Over 6,000 people in less than two weeks viewed the Jan. 15 Facebook post of the video, captioned "Unexpected #tsunami #HungaTongaHungaHaapai #Tsunami #Tonga #Earthquake."

A Jan. 15 tweet of the video from "independent journalist" Sinaj Noorami was viewed over 1.5 million times, and another Facebook post that also claimed it was taken in Tonga was viewed over 600,000 times, according to Reuters, though the page has since changed its caption.

However, the video doesn't show the aftermath of the volcanic eruption on Jan. 15. Instead, it shows a tidal bore in Indonesia in December 2021.

USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment.

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Video depicts tidal bore in Indonesia

For about an hour before Tonga would be plunged into radio silence after the volcanic eruption, residents made calls and posted videos to social media, the New York Times reported. This isn't one of those videos.

The viral clip was posted on YouTube by the Indonesian channel Membayang TV on Dec. 6, 2021, weeks before the Tonga tsunami hit, as Reuters reported. In a reply to a commenter's question, the channel said the video was taken at Ogis Beach in Indonesia.

The giant wave is referred to as "bono" in the video's title and description, which is the name that locals have given a rare tidal bore that occurs in the Kampar River, the Jakarta Globe reported in 2012.

"In the local tongue, the wave is known as bono, which roughly translates as 'it’s true' – a response to the typical reaction someone has when hearing of the phenomenon for the first time," the Globe writes.

A tidal bore occurs when an ocean wave from an "exceptionally high tide" is funneled into a river or stream, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says. As it moves through the freshwater body, it gains strength and speed, eventually crashing ashore.

According to the Globe and Surfer Today, professional surfers from around the world come to the Pelalawan district of Riau, Sumatra, to ride the well-known, and sometimes deadly, wave.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows a tsunami wave from the Jan. 15 volcanic eruption in Tonga. The video first appeared online on YouTube in December 2021. It depicts a tidal bore in Indonesia, according to the channel that posted.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Video shows tidal bore in Indonesia, not Tonga tsunami