Clip shows 2021 eruption of Fagradalsfjall in Iceland, not Russian volcano
"The Klyuchevskoy volcano in Russia is starting to erupt," reads a Malay-language TikTok post shared on July 31, 2025.
The accompanying video of lava bubbling up and overflowing from a crater has been viewed more than 33,000 times.
The same video was shared alongside a similar claim on TikTok and Facebook after Russia's Geophysical Survey said the Klyuchevskoy volcano -- the highest active in Europe and Asia -- erupted on July 30, with lava seen flowing down its slopes (archived link).
Earlier that day, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region, triggering tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast (archived link).
The circulating video, however, shows an eruption at a different volcano four years earlier.
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to similar footage posted on Facebook in November 2024, where it was captioned, "Boiling infernal lava pond in the crater pit of an Icelandic volcano" (archived link).
The post embeds an earlier post from June 2021, and credits the video to a Bjorn Steinbekk.
A subsequent keyword search for "Bjorn Steinbekk" on Google led to the Instagram account of an Icelandic photographer with the same name who specialises in taking drone videos and images of volcanoes (archived link).
The same video was also shared on the Instagram account on May 22, 2021 (archived link).
Steinbekk told AFP he filmed the video used in the false posts at the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Iceland's capital Reykjavik, in 2021 (archived link).
"This is indeed my video. This is not the first or tenth time this happens," Steinbekk said in a July 31 email.
The Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted in March 2021 after lying dormant for 800 years, NASA's Earth Observatory said at the time (archived link).
AFP reported that the volcanic eruption, which drew hundreds of thousands of tourists and was the longest in 50 years, was officially declared over by authorities on December 20, 2021 (archived link).
AFP has also debunked other misinformation that has swirled online since the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia's Far East.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
What to Know About Russia's ‘Historic' Volcano Eruption
The Krasheninnikov volcanic eruption, photographed on Aug 3, 2025, by a Snow Valley tour guide, on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Credit - Sheldovitsky Artem Igorevich—Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, FEB RAS When the sixth-strongest earthquake ever recorded hit Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula last week, it triggered tsunami warnings around the world as waves rippled across the Pacific as far as the U.S., Latin America, and even New Zealand. It also may have contributed to the eruption of a long-dormant volcano. Early Sunday on the same sparsely populated peninsula, the Krasheninnikov volcano spewed white ash clouds into the sky for the first time in hundreds of years. The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) called it a 'historic' eruption. There is some discrepancy about when exactly the volcano's last known eruption took place. According to KVERT, Krasheninnikov's 'last lava effusion' occurred between 1423 and 1503. According to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, it was around 1550. About 9.5 hours after the eruption began, KVERT issued an aviation red alert, warning aircraft of 'significant emission of ash into the atmosphere.' Satellite data indicated 'explosions sent ash up to 8-8.5 km a.s.l.' (appx. 5 mi). The volcano's activity decreased later Sunday, according to KVERT, which downgraded the aviation alert to orange, but as of Monday evening local time, the eruption remained ongoing, and KVERT warned that 'ash explosions up to 10 km (32,800 ft) a.s.l. could occur at any time.' No danger 'The plume is spreading eastward from the volcano toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path. No ash falls were recorded in populated areas. There are no registered tourist groups in the area of the volcano,' the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Kamchatka Territory posted on Telegram. KVERT said the ash plume had drifted more than 500 km (over 300 mi) by Monday evening. Krasheninnikov is located in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, which said in a statement that there is no threat to any people or infrastructure as the volcano is largely surrounded by wastelands. 'Of course, a volcanic eruption is a vivid and interesting event, primarily for scientists,' Vsevolod Yakovlev, the director of the reserve, said in the statement. But, he added, Krasheninnikov's 'eruption is not something out of the ordinary for a region with high volcanic activity.' Indeed, the Kamchatka Peninsula was recognized in 1996 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its 'high density of active volcanoes.' The peninsula's Klyuchevskoy volcano, which is the largest active volcano in the northern hemisphere, erupted just hours after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake on July 30. A U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) representative told LiveScience that the quake 'did not cause' the eruption as the volcano was already 'showing signs of unrest' in the days and weeks before, though it likely intensified the 'vigor of the eruption including some ash emission.' How are earthquakes and volcanoes related? Earthquakes and volcanic activity both stem from the movement of the earth's tectonic plates. Volcanic and seismic activity are common at the boundaries of such plates. The Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that there is a 'direct connection' between last week's historic earthquake and the activation of volcanoes that occurred after. The earthquake, the institute's director Alexey Ozerov said, 'activated magmatic centers, 'pumped' additional energy into them.' Krashennikov's eruption may not have been entirely triggered by the earlier, nearby 8.8 earthquake, Harold Tobin, a professor of seismology and geohazards at the University of Washington, told NPR. But, Tobin noted, the quake's seismic waves may have acted to 'shake loose the system that then allows it to actually erupt.' According to the USGS, earthquakes can sometimes trigger volcanic eruptions: 'A few large regional earthquakes (greater than magnitude 6) are considered to be related to a subsequent eruption or to some type of unrest at a nearby volcano.' According to the USGS, 'volcanoes can only be triggered into eruption by nearby tectonic earthquakes if they are already poised to erupt.' If there is already enough eruptible magma within the volcanic system and significant pressure within the magma storage region, large tectonic earthquakes might cause dissolved gases to come out of the magma, increasing the pressure and causing an eruption, the agency says, likening the effect to 'a shaken soda bottle.' Contact us at letters@
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
Clip shows 2021 eruption of Fagradalsfjall in Iceland, not Russian volcano
A volcano in Russia's far east erupted hours after a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Kamchatka region, but a video of bubbling lava in a crater was in fact filmed in Iceland in 2021. The drone pilot who captured the footage told AFP it shows the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Iceland's capital Reykjavik. "The Klyuchevskoy volcano in Russia is starting to erupt," reads a Malay-language TikTok post shared on July 31, 2025. The accompanying video of lava bubbling up and overflowing from a crater has been viewed more than 33,000 times. The same video was shared alongside a similar claim on TikTok and Facebook after Russia's Geophysical Survey said the Klyuchevskoy volcano -- the highest active in Europe and Asia -- erupted on July 30, with lava seen flowing down its slopes (archived link). Earlier that day, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Russia's far eastern Kamchatka region, triggering tsunami alerts across parts of the Pacific coast (archived link). The circulating video, however, shows an eruption at a different volcano four years earlier. A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to similar footage posted on Facebook in November 2024, where it was captioned, "Boiling infernal lava pond in the crater pit of an Icelandic volcano" (archived link). The post embeds an earlier post from June 2021, and credits the video to a Bjorn Steinbekk. A subsequent keyword search for "Bjorn Steinbekk" on Google led to the Instagram account of an Icelandic photographer with the same name who specialises in taking drone videos and images of volcanoes (archived link). The same video was also shared on the Instagram account on May 22, 2021 (archived link). Steinbekk told AFP he filmed the video used in the false posts at the Fagradalsfjall volcano near Iceland's capital Reykjavik, in 2021 (archived link). "This is indeed my video. This is not the first or tenth time this happens," Steinbekk said in a July 31 email. The Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted in March 2021 after lying dormant for 800 years, NASA's Earth Observatory said at the time (archived link). AFP reported that the volcanic eruption, which drew hundreds of thousands of tourists and was the longest in 50 years, was officially declared over by authorities on December 20, 2021 (archived link). AFP has also debunked other misinformation that has swirled online since the 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Russia's Far East.
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Yahoo
Russian volcano erupts for first time in centuries after massive earthquake strikes Kamchatka Peninsula
Less than a week after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake sparked tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific Ocean, a volcano in far eastern Russia, on Sunday, spewed hot ash miles into the sky, marking the first time in hundreds of years the geological feature had erupted. The Krasheninnikov volcano, located on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, sent ash 6 kilometers, or 3.7 miles, into the sky, staff at the Kronotsky Reserve said. Images of the volcanic eruption, which occurred on the Kronotsky Reserve, were released by Russian state media and showed dense clouds of ash rising above the volcano. "The plume is spreading eastward from the volcano toward the Pacific Ocean," Kamchatka's emergencies ministry wrote on Telegram during the eruption. "There are no populated areas along its path, and no ashfall has been recorded in inhabited localities." Stunning Photos Capture Moment One Of Indonesia's Most Active Volcanoes Erupts A 7.0-magnitude earthquake accompanied the eruption, prompting a tsunami warning for three areas of Kamchatka. Read On The Fox News App Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services later lifted the tsunami warning. "This is the first historically confirmed eruption of the Krasheninnikov volcano in 600 years," Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Tsunami Waves Arrive On Japan's Coast After Earthquake In Russia, Triggering Tsunami Alerts For Us West Coast But according to the U.S.-based Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, Krasheninnikov last erupted in 1550, or 475 years ago. The reason behind the discrepancy was not immediately clear. Icelandic Volcano Erupts, Forcing Tourists To Evacuate Famous Geothermal Spa Still, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team said Sunday that moderate explosive activity could continue, despite activity at the volcano decreasing. Krasheninnikov's eruption happened after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck far eastern Russia on Wednesday. The eruption caused small tsunami waves in Japan and Alaska and prompted tsunami warnings in places like Hawaii, North and Central America and Pacific islands south toward New Zealand. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Russian volcano erupts for first time in centuries after massive earthquake strikes Kamchatka Peninsula
