False claims that warn of potential flooding due to a "crack in a lake" in the southern Philippines have circulated online after floods and landslides killed dozens across the disaster-prone archipelago over the Christmas weekend. Local officials denied issuing the warning and told AFP they visited the area and found no signs of a crack.

"Village, city and disaster officials in Ozamiz city had an emergency meeting because there was a crack found at Lake Duminagat at Mt. Malindang," claims a Visayan-language warning shared on Facebook on December 27.

"They said we should prepare," it adds.

Bad weather struck in late December as the Catholic-majority nation of 110 million people prepared for a long Christmas holiday.

AFP reported at least 51 people were killed and more than 270,000 were left seeking emergency shelter as downpours inundated the country's central and southern regions. This included 19 people killed by drowning or rain-induced landslides in the Misamis Occidental province, where Ozamiz city is located.

Lake Duminagat is a volcanic crater lake on the inactive volcano Mt. Malindang, also located in Misamis Occidental.

Screenshot of false post taken on January 4, 2023.

The warning was also shared here, here and here on Facebook, stoking fears of more flooding in the area.

"Dear God, protect us!" one commented.

"In Jesus' name, take care of my family, relatives & friends and everyone. Lord protect them from this coming calamity, first time in the whole of...

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