From October 25 to 27, heavy monsoon rain and strong winds, brought on by the indirect effects of Cyclone Arnab, hit many parts of Sri Lanka hard. Several earthquakes were also recorded across the Asian region in recent days. With so many people already watching the weather closely, a social media post began circulating with a stark warning: a “tsunami threat with two earthquakes.” It gave no other details. We looked into it. Here are the posts that spread the warning.
Social Media Posts:
Claim Investigated: Whether Sri Lanka faced a tsunami risk following two earthquakes.
Fact Check:
The posts said, “Tsunami threat with two earthquakes, stay alert,” but gave no specific details, so readers naturally took the warning to be about Sri Lanka. If the country had really faced two earthquakes and a tsunami risk, the relevant official bodies would have issued warnings. Our checks showed that neither the Department of Meteorology nor the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) had issued any tsunami or earthquake warning for Sri Lanka. No credible mainstream media outlet or government institution had reported such news either.
Only a Strong Wind and Rough Sea Advisory Was Issued
Sri Lanka was experiencing rainy weather at the time. On October 29, 2026, the Department of Meteorology’s Early Warning Centre for natural hazards issued an advisory on strong winds and rough seas, valid for the next 24 hours. That, however, was not a tsunami warning.
Department of Meteorology – Sri Lanka
The posts also said, “full details in the first comment,” but the comments contained no such details. Many posts written this way aim to push links to various websites and collect likes, comments, and views.
Director General of Meteorology Ajith Wijemannage Confirmed There Was No Threat
We contacted Ajith Wijemannage, the Director General of the Department of Meteorology, for clarification. He said there was no earthquake or tsunami risk to Sri Lanka at that point.
DMC Spokesperson Pradeep Kodippili Said the Posts Were False
We also asked the DMC’s media spokesperson, Pradeep Kodippili. He too said the posts were false and that Sri Lanka faced no such earthquake or tsunami risk.
Twin Earthquakes Near Vanuatu Triggered a Tsunami Warning on October 24
On October 24, 2026, a series of shallow earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 6.9 struck the seas near the Vanuatu islands in the Pacific Ocean. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quakes were centered about 10 kilometers deep, west of Sola in Vanuatu. The Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) immediately issued tsunami warnings for coastal areas within 300 kilometers of the epicenter and told people to move to higher ground. Authorities later cancelled the warnings after no significant change in sea levels was recorded. So far, no deaths or serious damage to property have been reported. More details are available here, here, here and here.
The posts above also began circulating on October 24. They appear to have been created after the twin earthquakes and tsunami warning near Vanuatu that day and then shared without that context.
That said, several earthquakes have indeed been recorded in the Asian region in recent days.
Two Earthquakes Struck Eastern Indonesia on October 29
On the morning of October 29, two earthquakes of magnitude 6.4 and 6.0 struck the seas off Maluku and South Papua in eastern Indonesia. Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) said the first quake struck at 5:06 a.m., 160 kilometers deep in the sea north-west of Larat Island in the Tanimbar Islands. The second came at 10:26 a.m., at a depth of 120 kilometers, north-east of Boven Digoel. Residents in several areas felt moderate shaking, but officials confirmed there was no tsunami risk. No deaths or serious damage were reported, and disaster authorities asked people to stay alert for possible aftershocks. More details are available here and here.
A 5.5-Magnitude Earthquake Hit Japan’s Chiba Prefecture
At 12:07 a.m. on October 29, 2026 (8:37 p.m. on October 28, Sri Lanka time), a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck near the town of Yokoshibahikari in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture. It originated about 52 kilometers underground, on the boundary between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Pacific Plate, and registered “Lower 5” on Japan’s seismic intensity (Shindo) scale. Strong shaking was felt in Tokyo, at Narita International Airport and in the nearby prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, and Kanagawa, but authorities confirmed there was no tsunami risk. The Japanese government set up an information liaison office at the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor the situation, and according to the Chiba Prefectural Police and emergency services, no deaths or serious damage were reported. More details are available here and here.
An Earthquake Struck North-western China on October 28
On October 28, 2026, an earthquake measuring between magnitude 4.5 and 5.1 struck north-western China, around Bole and Mazha. It hit at about 8:40 p.m. local time at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers. No major deaths or significant damage to property have been officially reported. A few days earlier, on October 22, a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Nagqu, in China’s Tibet (Xizang) region, killed 16 people and injured 76, and authorities were investigating whether the October 28 quake was an aftershock of it. More details are available here, here, here and here.
GSMB Senior Seismologist S.N.B. Thaldena: These Quakes Have No Direct Impact on Sri Lanka
We asked S.N.B. Thaldena, Senior Seismologist at the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), about the string of recent earthquakes in Asia. She said that although it may look like a lot of earthquakes at first glance, quakes like these happen around the world every day and every year as a matter of course. She pointed out that the earthquakes in countries such as Japan, China and Indonesia have no direct impact on Sri Lanka, and since they occur along different tectonic plate boundaries, they are not directly connected to one another. She added that because no special analysis of these events has been carried out, it is not possible to predict any particular trend.
Former Senior Professor Athula Senaratne: Sri Lanka Should Watch Indonesia and the Andaman Region
Athula Senaratne, former Senior Professor at the Department of Geology, University of Peradeniya, told us that about 80% of the world’s earthquakes occur in the Pacific Ocean region. He said the Earth’s rotation creates a cyclical pattern in which quakes recur in the same areas over the same periods. Earthquakes in the Pacific, however, do not affect Sri Lanka. He explained that a tsunami risk to Sri Lanka could arise only if a large earthquake of magnitude 7 or 8 struck a shallow seabed in the Indian Ocean to the east, that is, off the western coast of Indonesia or around the Andaman Islands.
He added that quakes to the south of Sri Lanka occur deeper than a kilometer under the sea, so they do not cause tsunami waves or major impacts, and that minor quakes along the transform faults in the western seas also have no strong effect on the country. Sri Lanka, the professor stressed, needs to keep watch on earthquakes in Indonesia and the Andaman Islands region to the east.
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Conclusion:
The social media posts warning of a “tsunami threat with two earthquakes” are misleading. Neither the Department of Meteorology, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) nor the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) issued any earthquake or tsunami warning for Sri Lanka, and the Director General of Meteorology and the DMC spokesperson both confirmed there was no such risk.
The posts drew on the twin earthquakes near Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean on October 24, 2026, and the tsunami warning that was issued and later cancelled and were shared without that context in a way that suggested they applied to Sri Lanka. The recent earthquakes in Japan, China and Indonesia also occurred along different tectonic plate boundaries and have no direct impact on Sri Lanka.
