By spreading fake news, cyberspace scoundrels are adding more chaos to the disastrous effects of the powerful New Year’s Day in Central Japan, the Japanese government lamented on Wednesday (January 3).

Government issued a cautionary call for the public to exercise vigilance, urging individuals to discern the authenticity of information before sharing them on social media platforms.

According to reports from Japan’s national government, the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas along the Sea of Japan Coast has led to a surge of misleading posts attirbuting the seismic event to the use of an “earthquake weapon.”

Some sources even labeled the temblor as an “artificial earthquake”, thus, triggering various unfounded theories.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the spread of false information as “unacceptable."

The communication ministry echoed this sentiment, urging individuals to exercise careful judgment before sharing online posts, emphasizing the importance of verifying the accuracy of information, particularly during critical events like natural disasters.

News reports cited one distressing distressing incident involving a woman in her 40s from an affected region whose address was divulged in a post falsely claiming that her son was trapped and unable to move.

The woman emphasized the falsity of the information, expressing concern over the public exposure of her home's location and urging the removal of the post.

Additionally, edited videos purportedly depicting tsunami caused by the recent quake have been circulated, utilizing footage from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, which triggered the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crisis.

The government emphasized the detrimental impact of false information during disasters, highlighting its potential to obstruct rescue operations and jeopardize lives.

Reference was made to a past incident following the Kumamoto earthquake in southwestern Japan in 2016, wherein an individual was arrested for spreading a false rumor about a lion escaping from a zoo.