The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
Typhoon No. 15 causes landslides, record rainfall
Typhoon No. 15 moved eastward over waters south of Honshu before dawn Saturday and had weakened into an extratropical cyclone o the main island’s southeast coast at 9 a.m. In Shizuoka Prefecture, which received record-breaking heavy rainfall, landslides and road cave-ins were reported, in which one man, 45, was killed, another person was le missing and three others su ered slight injuries. Six weather observation spots in Shizuoka Prefecture saw record precipitation, including Suruga Ward, Shizuoka City, where in 12 hours of precipitation until Saturday morning, 404.5 millimeters of rain was recorded, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. In the city, the normal amount of precipitation for September was exceeded in just half a day.
e Tokaido Shinkansen line canceled operations between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka stations late on the night of Sept. 23, and many passengers spent the night in stations between the two. Central Japan Railway Co. suspended services between Mishima and Nagoya stations from the rst train on Saturday morning. (Sept. 25)
FAKE PHOTOS SHARED ON TWITTER
Fake photos of houses that were said to have flooded in Shizuoka Prefecture due to Typhoon No. 15 spread widely after being posted on Twitter, according to the Shizuoka prefectural government.
A Twitter user posted the images early Monday accompanied by text saying: “Drone-shot photos of flood disaster in Shizuoka Prefecture. This is really too horrible.”
As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the post had been retweeted more than 5,600 times.
There were unnatural elements in the pictures, such as a distorted roofline that should have been straight. The poster later apologized, admitting they had used artificial intelligence to create the images.
“It’s important to prevent confusion stemming from false information and unfounded rumors,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The government will call on people to be careful about information that is not based on facts.”
“In times of disaster, false information tends to spread because people want information. It’s important not to spread it carelessly,” Hosei University Prof. Jun Sakamoto said. (Sept. 29)