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As footage of a sudden glacial flood surge along the Nepal-Tibet border, with waves resembling tsunami conditions, circulated worldwide, certain social media pages and WhatsApp groups began spreading claims that Sri Lanka’s coastal areas also faced a tsunami threat.
Weather maps issued by the Department of Meteorology were also misinterpreted, with some posting claims such as “the sea is churning and shaking all of Sri Lanka” and “a red alert has been issued,” in an apparent attempt to instill severe fear and panic among the public. This is our fact-check into the truth behind the spreading claims of a “tsunami risk.”
Social Media Posts:
Claim 1:
A post interpreting a map issued by the Department of Meteorology as an indication of a tsunami risk had circulated as follows.
Fact-Check:
We first checked whether the Department of Meteorology had actually issued a tsunami warning, as the social media posts claimed, by reviewing the department’s official press releases.
What the Department of Meteorology had actually issued was merely an advisory about elevated sea wave heights. Nowhere in it was there any statement suggesting that waves would strike the coast in a manner that would shake the entire country.
The Department of Meteorology’s Natural Disaster Early Warning Centre had issued a special advisory covering the coastal and marine areas from Colombo through Galle and Matara to Pottuvil.
Valid until 3:30 p.m. on August 27, the notice stated that there was a strong likelihood of sea waves reaching heights of between 2.0 and 3.0 meters in the relevant maritime areas, and it clarified explicitly that this did not refer to the height of waves coming ashore. It further noted that from Beruwala through Galle to Matara some waves could indeed reach the shore, and it urged fishing and naval communities operating in these waters, as well as residents of coastal areas, to remain vigilant. Full notice is available here.
While the notice specifically stated that the elevated wave heights referred to the sea itself, with only the possibility of water surging into low-lying coastal areas, the social media post omitted this crucial clarification that the figures did not represent the height of waves reaching land and instead framed it as though a massive maritime catastrophe was imminent.
Department of Meteorology – Sri Lanka | Facebook
Department of Meteorology
When we contacted the Director General of the Department of Meteorology, A.L.K. Wijemanne, he confirmed that the country faced no tsunami risk, and that the weather notice had referred only to elevated sea waves caused by the southwest monsoon and low-pressure conditions.
He further clarified that a genuine tsunami is caused by events such as an undersea earthquake, a meteorite impact, or a nuclear explosion occurring far out at sea, typically taking around 45 minutes to reach the coast, whereas the current weather notice referred to a temporary, seasonal phenomenon in which some seawater might reach land, closer to coastal erosion than to a tsunami.
Disaster Management Centre (DMC)
We also contacted Disaster Management Centre spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili, who confirmed that Sri Lanka faced no tsunami risk. He explained that the 2.0-to-3.0-meter wave heights referred to conditions far out at sea, and that while some water might reach low-lying coastal areas, the waves reaching land were not elevated in height. He further stressed that the public should not develop any unwarranted fear of a tsunami-like event on this basis.
Notably, the Department of Meteorology has issued similar advisories about elevated sea wave heights several times during the past month, as seen here. Archived Link.
Nonetheless, this time the natural disaster in Nepal drew heightened public attention to the notice, leading many to misinterpret it and develop unwarranted fear as a result.
Unwarranted fear fueled by the Nepal flood situation
Many were misled by the catastrophic flash flood that struck Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, near the Nepal-Tibet border, on the morning of August 26, 2026, mistakenly believing that the disaster had been caused by a sudden tsunami.
The disaster occurred when a roughly 600-metre-wide section of glacial ice broke off from a mountaintop. The speed of the collapse melted the ice, which then mixed with soil and rock to unleash a massive flash flood that surged down the Bhote Koshi River. This was not a tsunami situation either.
Claim 2:
A video was also circulated claiming that the sea had receded, describing it as a sign of an impending tsunami.
Fact-Check:
We ran the video’s frames through a reverse image search and found that it actually depicts the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Gujarat, India.
We were able to trace the original video, posted by an Indian national on Facebook on July 8, 2026.
Alang is the world’s largest ship-breaking yard. There, massive cargo ships, and oil tankers are naturally driven onto the shore’s muddy flats during high tide. As the tide recedes at low tide, these vessels are left stranded on the mud, after which workers dismantle them piece by piece for recycling.
(The technical process of “beaching,” in which ships are naturally driven ashore during high tide, is explained in detail by Ocean Star Shipping’s Alang Guide and HowStuffWorks.)
Although this same video has been repurposed on social media to falsely depict tsunami conditions in Peru and Argentina, another fact-check confirming that it actually shows India’s Alang Ship Breaking Yard can be found here.
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Conclusion:
Our investigation reveals that these social media posts, warning of an impending tsunami, distorted and exaggerated portions of the official weather advisory to manufacture false panic. Sri Lanka faced no tsunami or large-scale disaster risk. As the Department of Meteorology clarified, this was simply elevated sea wave activity linked to the southwest monsoon, and both the Department of Meteorology and the Disaster Management Centre confirmed that there was no tsunami threat.
We therefore urge you to refrain from sharing such misleading posts, and to rely solely on official notices from the Department of Meteorology (meteo.gov.lk) and the Disaster Management Centre (dmc.gov.lk).
Title: Tsunami warnings flooding social media? They are FAKE
Fact Check By: Pavithra Sandamali
Result: False
