A post spreading online is claiming that Mount Hibok-Hibok in Camiguin has erupted and produced a huge “mushroom-shaped” ash plume. This is fake.
On April 15, a Facebook page published an image of the active volcano supposedly billowing a massive ash cloud. The post was accompanied by a lengthy caption supposedly detailing how local authorities raised alert levels in nearby communities.
A portion of the caption read:
“Breaking News: Massive Ash Plume Rises from Mount Hibok-Hibok
Camiguin, Philippines — A powerful volcanic eruption has sent a towering column of ash and smoke high into the sky above Mount Hibok-Hibok, alarming residents and prompting immediate monitoring by local authorities.
The eruption, captured in dramatic visuals, shows a dense, mushroom-shaped ash plume rapidly expanding into the atmosphere. Thick gray clouds continue to billow upward, indicating sustained volcanic activity beneath the surface.”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has not recorded any recent eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok, according to the bulletin on its official website. The last major eruption of the volcano was in December 1951.
In a Facebook advisory the same day the post circulated, PHIVOLCS labeled the claim as “fake news” and said the volcano currently remains under Alert Level 0, with no recorded volcanic activity.
The image showing the “eruption” is also inauthentic. The AI image-detection tool of InVID shows an 80% probability that the graphic was AI-generated. Another tool, Hive Moderation, also flagged it as 99.4% likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.
VERA Files has repeatedly fact-checked the FB page behind the spurious post – called EndTimes News – for sharing disaster-related content made using artificial intelligence. In fact, the page also provided a link to a compilation of AI-generated clips supposedly showing the “eruption” of Hibok-Hibok and another volcano in Hawaii.
The post surfaced a day after Mount Kanlaon, some 356 kilometers northwest of Hibok-Hibok, was placed under Alert level 2 following ash emission that reached 600 meters above its summit crater.
As of writing, the post published by Facebook page EndTimes News (created Aug. 3, 2016), has so far garnered 996 reactions, 401 comments, and 621 shares. The page, moderated from California, gave itself the following description: “About end of the world signs.EndTimes News Arround The World, entertainment and education. Welcome To The Reality And Fiction (AI).”
