2017 Greenland Tsunami Clip Viral as One From Recent Earthquake in Russia

News outlets such as India Today North East and TV9 Bharatvarsh falsely shared this clip as one from Russia.

Fact-Check: This video is from Greenland and dates back to 2017.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video showing a huge wave hitting the shore is being shared on social media, with users claiming that it shows visuals of a tsunami that swept millions, triggered by an earthquake in Russia.

Who shared it?: News outlets such as India Today North East and TV9 Bharatvarsh shared this visual as one from Russia, as well.

Here is the report by India Today North East. 

Here is the post by TV9 Bharatvarsh. 

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

This post recorded 103.7K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• This video is from Greenland and dates back to 2017 when a massive tsunami hit a small village named Nuugaatsiaq.

What we found: At first, we broke down the video into multiple screenshots and ran a reverse image search on some of them.

• We were led to multiple videos featuring the same frames, uploaded in 2021 on YouTube, stating that it was from Greenland.

• A channel named Newsflare uploaded the video in May 2021. It noted, "Moment caught on camera when fishermen got surprised by the incredible power of a tsunami wave which hit Greenland's west coast. Luckily all three were able to escape the wave just in time." (sic.)

• The video's description also mentioned that on 17 June 2017, a massive landslide in Greenland triggered a 90-meter-high tsunami that hit Nuugaatsiaq village within seven minutes, destroying 11 buildings.

• It noted that four people were swept away and presumed dead, while several others were injured and 200 residents evacuated.

• Another channel named Licet Studios also uploaded this video in 2021 as one from Greenland.

• Looking further, we found the same video uploaded on YouTube dated September 2017. The video's title noted "Nuugaatsiaq tsunami."

Here is a preview of the video.

(Source: YouTube) 

Some news reports: The Guardian reported on 19 June 2017 that the affected village is located in northwest Greenland, and was overwhelmed by massive coastal flooding during the night.

• The report mentioned that initial speculation suggested the waves might have been triggered by an earthquake as a magnitude‑4 tremor was detected in the region.

• However, experts later linked it to a massive landslide in the region.

• It swept away eleven buildings, killed four locals, injured nine others, and led to the evacuation of the Nuugaatsiaq village.

• Other neighbouring areas, namely, Uummannaq and Illorsuit, were also affected.

• The Irish Independent and the BBC also reported on the matter in June 2017.

Earthquake in Russia: An earthquake of 8.8 magnitude struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 30 July , triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific, including Japan, Hawaii, and French Polynesia.

Conclusion: An old clip from 2017 of the Greenland tsunami has gone viral on social media, with users falsely linking it to the recent Russian earthquake.

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