Fact Check: Video of people fleeing tsunami wasn't taken after 2025 Russia earthquake
A video authentically showed people on a shoreline fleeing a tsunami after an earthquake off the Russian coast in July 2025.
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In late July 2025, following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake (archived) off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific, a video circulated on social media purportedly showing people fleeing from tsunami waves caused by the earthquake.
For example, one X user shared the footage, which had been viewed more than 460,000 times as of this writing, along with the caption (archived): "Breaking : An 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits Russia which triggers Tsunami. Scary visuals as seen in this video."
(X user @aalochak07)
The clip appeared alongside the claim elsewhere on X with captions related to the Russian earthquake (archived, archived).
However, the video was miscaptioned. The clip actually depicted the aftermath of a different tsunami that occurred in Greenland in 2017, not in Russia in 2025.
The earliest version of the footage Snopes found was posted (archived) on YouTube on Sept. 8, 2017, with the title "Nuugaatsiaq tsunami Rasmus." The video was posted almost three months after a landslide triggered a tsunami that struck (archived) the west coast of Greenland and affected a small village called Nuugaatsiaq on June 17, 2017, according to the International Tsunami Information Center.
It was not clear who recorded the footage posted on YouTube; however, it appeared to be real and there was nothing to indicate that it was created using artificial intelligence software.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, four people died and 11 buildings were destroyed (archived) due to the tsunami that hit Nuugaatsiaq.
In 2021, Licet Studios, a video licensing company that provides rights-cleared videos for television, film and digital publishers, listed the video on its licensing platform (archived) and YouTube (archived).
The video was titled, "GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3," and the description on the licensing platform read:
Shocking video captures the impact when one of the tallest tsunamis recorded in history hits and devastates the village of Nuugaatsiaq (Greenland) in the late evening hours, causing four deaths. Subsequent tsunami waves surprised the residents when they were trying to secure their property.
The YouTube caption added: "Luckily all three [people in the video] were able to escape the wave just in time."
The platform said the footage was published on Sept. 8, 2017, which matched the date of the above YouTube clip. Licet's credit, Rasmus J., also matched the name in the title of the YouTube video.
"Huge quake rocks Russia's Far East, triggering tsunami warnings around Pacific." Reuters, 30 July 2025, https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/huge-quake-rocks-russias-far-east-triggering-tsunami-warnings-around-pacific-2025-07-30/. Accessed 30 July 2025.
"17 June 2017, Karrat Fjord, Greenland Landslide & Tsunami." International Tsunami Information Center, IOC-UNESCO, https://legacy.itic.ioc-unesco.org/legacy.itic.ioc-unesco.org/indexf26c.html?option=com_content&view=article&id=2164&Itemid=3237. Accessed 30 July 2025.
"NCEI Global Historical Hazard Database - Tsunami Event Information." National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA, https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/runup-more-info/32539. Accessed 30 July 2025.
"Four people missing after possible tsunami hits remote Greenland village." The Guardian, 19 June 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/19/four-people-missing-after-possible-tsunami-hits-remote-greenland-village. Accessed 30 July 2025.
"GREENLAND TSUNAMI: Fishermen Run For Their Lives - Camera 3." Licet Studios, 23 Mar. 2021, https://licetstudios.com/video.php?v=IFzXB2dKgcU. Accessed 30 July 2025.
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