Fact Check: Viral Video Claiming to Show Pakistan Floods Actually Shows Landslide in Japan, in 2021
A series of flash floods have been devastating parts of Pakistan since June 2025, particularly the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Claim :
Viral video shows the Flash floods that occurred in Khyber province of Pakistan in August 2025Fact :
Video is old and shows incident of landslide that took place in Atami, Japan in 2021
A series of flash floods has been devastating parts of Pakistan since June 2025, particularly the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Heavy pre-monsoon rains are identified as the primary cause of these floods. These floods have resulted in significant casualties, widespread displacement, and considerable damage to infrastructure, especially in the Swat Valley. Flash floods that were triggered by heavy rains on August 16, 2025, killed at least 56 people in northwestern Pakistan, taking the toll to over 360 since June 26.
Pakistan’s weather department on August 17, 2025, warned of heavier torrential rains countrywide, as the death toll from flash floods in the country’s north rose to 360, according to the country’s authorities. The meteorological department issued a heavy rain alert countrywide from August 17 to August 21. It also urged people in northwestern regions to take "precautionary measures". The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also warned that the downpours, which began earlier than usual this year, are expected to continue with greater intensity over the next fortnight. Several videos and images of the devastation are in circulation on mainstream media articles and also on social media posts.
Amidst this, a video is circulating on social media with the claim that it shows the flash floods that occurred in Khyber, Pakistan.
Fact check:
The claim is false. The video actually shows a 2021 landslide in Atami, Japan. When we extracted keyframes from the video and searched them using reverse image search, we found that the video is an old one.
A facebook user named Donegal Weather Channel shared the video on July 3, 2021 with the caption “Scary footage showing the landslide in Atami city, Japan this morning with 20 people missing and two believed to be dead. For more on this https://www.donegalweatherchannel.ie/.../2-dead-and-20... Video by Katie Fujita”
The Hindustan Times YouTube channel shared the video under the title “Watch: Landslide in Japan's Atami, 20 people missing, at least 3 killed”. The description of the video states “A massive landslide ripped through a Japanese seaside resort town on July 3. Mud crashed into rows of houses in Atami after several days of heavy rains. At least 20 people are missing and at least three people were killed as per reports. Witnesses heard a roar and then saw homes swallowed by muddy waves. Around 130 buildings were affected when landslides ripped through the town. Atami is a hot springs resort town on a steep slope that leads down to a bay. Even two days after the landslide, rescue workers continued combing through the debris.”
The video was also shared on the Facebook page of India Today.
According to an article published on CNN, at least two people are dead and some 20 people are missing after a mudslide swept across a seaside city around 60 miles southwest of Tokyo, sweeping away homes amid Japan’s rainy season. Footage posted on social media showed the powerful black mudslide shoot down a mountainside, engulfing homes and infrastructure as locals watched in horror.
The giant mudslide in Atami, Shizuoka prefecture, which occurred around 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, came after parts of the region were hit by torrential rain. An Atami city official confirmed to CNN that two women had died in the landslide. Police and firefighters have been searching for the missing and so far, 19 people have been rescued in Atami city after being stranded in their homes. Operations stopped overnight and resumed on Sunday at 6 a.m. local time, with 700 people from the police, fire department service and Japan Self-Defense Forces assisting.
Therefore, the viral video does not show the fatal flash flood that killed many people in Khyber province in Pakistan. The video shows the landslide that occurred in Atami, Japan in the year 2021. The claim is false.
