With Mayon Volcano acting up this month, a video of its supposed explosive eruption has been circulating online. This is fake and generated using artificial intelligence.
On January 8, a Facebook page posted a ten-second video claiming to show Mayon Volcano spewing towering lava and ash plumes as residents, speaking a foreign language, are heard reacting in fear.
The video bore the text:
“Ingat guys. Grabe ang pag buga ng usok Mayon Volcano. Likas na kyo (sic) (Be careful guys. Mayon Volcano’s smoke release is alarming. Evacuate now).”
This clip is AI-generated and does not accurately depict the situation in Albay province where Mayon is located.
A reverse image search led VERA Files to a copy of the video posted by TikTok user @neuralerrors on Nov. 26, 2025. A portion of the post’s caption read:
“#Aigenerated #indonesia #sumatra #marapi #volcano #eruption #ashcloud #naturaldisaster. You have doubts? It’s an AI generated simulation, be careful with simulations. If you want to learn how to build a page using Sora click in the bio.”
Aside from the caption, the post also carried an “AI-generated media” label.
The video itself bore the watermark of Sora, the text-to-video generative model of the AI research and deployment company OpenAI.
@neuralerrors😳🇮🇩 Mount Marapi erupted violently in West Sumatra, sending ash clouds racing through nearby villages. Homes, motorcycles, and roads vanished under a storm of ash in seconds. One of the most intense eruption scenes ever captured. #aigenerated #indonesia #sumatra #marapi #volcano #eruption #ashcloud #naturaldisaster You have doubts? It’s an AI generated simulation, be careful with simulations. If you want to learn how to build a page using Sora click in the bio.♬ original sound – neuralerrors
To further confirm that this is AI-generated, VERA Files also ran the video in the AI-detection tool Hive Moderation. Results showed that the video had a 99.9% likelihood of being made using AI.
The fake video was uploaded on Jan. 8 when the volcano shed uson or pyroclastic density current, but there was no explosive eruption like the one depicted in the clip.
As of Jan. 19, Alert Level 3 remained in force with lava dome and lava flow effusions and volcanic earthquakes taking place.
VERA Files previously debunked disinformation related to Mayon Volcano‘s activities in early January. Volcanic eruptions and other disasters have been a common theme in disinformation circulating in the Philippines.
The video by the FB page Ka Team JerJer (created on June 9, 2020) garnered 1,600 reactions, 314 comments, 399 shares and 181,000 views.
