Millions of people across Japan received an extraordinary emergency warning Friday telling them to prepare for potentially catastrophic earthquake shaking. Eight minutes later, the warning was canceled: the estimated magnitude 9.9 earthquake did not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan\u2019s Meteorological Agency issued the emergency earthquake warning at about 12:40 p.m. local time on October 16, 2026<\/strong>, covering a broad area from Hokkaido through parts of central Japan. The automated system had calculated a magnitude of 9.9 near the Kuril Islands<\/strong>, large enough to exceed the strongest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What actually happened was far less severe. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near Russia\u2019s Kamchatka Peninsula<\/strong>, producing only weak shaking in Japan. Jiji Press reported that the strongest observed intensity in Japan was just 1 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale in Hakodate, Hokkaido<\/strong>. No destructive shaking followed the emergency alert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At approximately 12:48 p.m.<\/strong>, JMA withdrew the warning and later apologized for the disruption. The agency said the alert system had dramatically overestimated both the earthquake\u2019s location and magnitude. Officials found that a calculation designed for domestic earthquakes had been applied to an event extremely far from Japan and that inconsistent hypocenter information was used during the automated processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The false warning still produced real-world consequences. Emergency alerts sounded on mobile phones and public systems, while the Tokaido Shinkansen automatically cut traction power and temporarily stopped trains between Shin-Yokohama and Toyohashi. Services resumed after roughly 15 minutes. JMA said it was continuing to determine exactly why the processing failure occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n