Indonesia's Mount Anak Krakatau erupted multiple times in September 2026, spewing fountains of lava and plumes of volcanic ash, but a video circulating on social media purportedly showing the recent eruption is AI-generated. The clip first circulated in November 2025 and contains visual artefacts indicative of synthetic content.
"Considering that volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau has begun moving toward Lampung province, don't forget to wear a mask when you have to go outside," reads the Indonesian-language caption of a TikTok post shared on September 5, 2026.
The video appears to be filmed from a boat and shows a volcano emitting smoke, whose colour changes from red to purple as the eruption intensifies.
Mount Anak Krakatau had a major eruption on the day, sending volcanic ash across several parts of Indonesia, including Greater Jakarta and Lampung, according to residents who reported thick layers of ash in their areas (archived here and here).
Thousands of domestic and international flights -- particularly those operating from Indonesia's main airport, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport -- were cancelled as a result of the volcanic activity.
More than 340,000 passengers were left stranded as Indonesia shuttered its main international airport and seven others and cancelled hundreds of flights.
However, the video, which has also been widely shared in multiple TikTok posts, was in fact AI-generated.
Reverse image searches combined with keyword searches traced the footage to an earlier TikTok post published on November 5, 2025. Part of the lengthy caption has also falsely described it as a "Krakatau Eruption: Lava Rain at Sea During Our Boat Trip."
Closer examination of the footage reveals several visual inconsistencies characteristic of AI-generated content.
The supposed eruption cannot be seen on the screens of the phones held up by people apparently filming the scene. The eruption itself also appears visually inconsistent, with columns of smoke changing unnaturally from bright purple to red and then orange.
The user has shared many other unrealistic animations on his TikTok account. Meta's AI analysis tool has also flagged the circulating video was made using one of its models (archived here and here).
The video has circulated in another false claim debunked by AFP in July. Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency and the energy ministry's Geological Agency both dismissed the circulating clip as a "hoax" at the time (archived here and here).
The Geological Agency also included a video showing a recent eruption captured by surveillance cameras on their official X account ( archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims about volcano eruptions that used AI-generated content.