On January 15, when a Weibo netizen was discussing content about the volcanic eruption in Tonga, he uploaded a GIF of a man practicing boxing. The man, dressed in a blue life-saving vest, struck hard at a broad-leaved tree. Behind the man, there were huge waves approaching, and 3 people rushed to the shore, but were washed away, two of them holding selfie sticks, and it seemed that a shoot was underway.
Further searching found that other social platforms also had related news flowing out, saying that the 3 people took photos before the tsunami and were swept away by the waves, but fortunately finally escaped.
On January 14, local time, the submarine volcano of Hong Aha Apai Island in The South Pacific island nation of Tonga erupted violently.
The Hon Aha Apay Island volcano, part of the highly active volcanic arc of the Tonga-Kmadek Islands, became active after December 20 last year and briefly went into a brief dormancy on January 11 this year. The transoceanic tsunami caused by this volcanic eruption was widespread. Not only Tonga itself, but also neighboring countries Fiji, Samoa and even New Zealand have issued tsunami warnings.
After using Google to reverse search the net drive chart, the full version of the video was found on the YouTube video platform.
Screenshot of the original video on YouTube
The video, released in Indonesian, was uploaded by a blogger named Membayang TV on December 7 last year. The description bar below the video shows that the video was filmed on December 6 and was done in collaboration with "Rina Rina Bono", "Onex TM" and "Imagine TV".
A YouTube search for "rina rina bono" and "onex tm" reveals that the two bloggers are the two people holding selfie sticks in the GIF, who uploaded a video taken from a different perspective on December 6 and 7, respectively.
As an example, the building in the original video of "Imagine TV" is the same as the architectural form in the lens of Rina rina bono, but because Rina Rina Bono uses the selfie mode of the device, the building in the video screen is facing the opposite direction of the building in "Imagine TV".
"Imagine TV" contrasts with the lens shot from the perspective of Rina rina bono
Rina rina bono perspective
Onex TM perspective
After observing the videos of the three bloggers, it was found that the three people had very similar creative styles, including a large number of seaside selfie perspectives, and the subject matter revolved around a tidal bore phenomenon known locally as "bono". Based on public information such as the introduction of previous videos, the three YouTube bloggers are all located in Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia, and filmed in Teluk Meranti, the mouth of the Kampar River.
Cover of Rina Rina bono's work
Cover of onex TM artwork
Indonesia's largest tourism portal indonesia-tourism.com information shows that tidal waves are a common natural phenomenon in Riau province.
According to National Geographic, tidal wave phenomena occur mostly at the mouth of rivers and are formed by the convergence of sea tides and river tides. Specifically, the sea rises and pushes the river upwards against the current, thereby stirring up huge waves and causing the tide to surge. "Clouds and trees around the sand, angry waves roll frost and snow." The well-known Qiantang tide is the largest tidal wave in the world.
Tsunamis are often caused by seawater shocks caused by undersea earthquakes. Therefore, in terms of causes, tidal waves are fundamentally different from tsunamis, and the two should not be confused.
indonesia-tourism.com website introduces the tidal wave phenomenon in Riau Province
So why does the man in the video in a blue life jacket hit a tree?
According to "Imaginary TELEVISION", it is a "ritual" called "Salam dari Binjai".
Last August, a Tiktok user for @parispernandes uploaded a highly contagious short video. In the video, he vigorously hits a banana tree while shouting "greetings from the people." As a result, "greetings from the people" quickly became popular and became a phenomenon-level Internet hot meme, imitated by netizens and reported by the media. @parispernandes from Minli City, Sumatra, has also become a super influencer with 2.2 million followers.
@parispernandes screenshot of the short video of "Greetings to the People" Tiktok
According to indonesian local media inet.detik.com, in November last year, the Google App Store launched three mobile games with the theme of "greetings from the people", in which players can hit banana trees continuously.
Screenshot of the "Greetings of Folk Ceremonies" themed mobile game
In the original video of "Imagine TV", the man who hit the tree said in front of the camera that his strength was like the tide of the Campbell River, "the tide can push the tree down, I can too", which can be said to rub a wave of network heat.
In summary, the video of "taking pictures before the Tonga tsunami, 3 people being swept away by the waves" has nothing to do with the tsunami caused by the volcanic eruption of Tonga. According to the description of the uploader of the video, the original video was taken on December 6 last year, filming the tidal wave "bono" in Meranti Bay at the mouth of the Kampar River in Indonesia. The man in the GIF striking the broad-leaved trees on the shore is a tribute to the "Greetings of Folk Ceremonies", a popular Internet meme that went viral in August last year.
Source The Paper
Editor-in-charge Wang Lixuan
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Editor Zhang Ming