Japan mistakenly issues warning for magnitude 9.9 earthquake

Japan’s Meteorological Agency (JMA) mistakenly issued an early warning estimating a magnitude 9.9 earthquake and forecasting strong shaking across much of the country. The actual earthquake measured magnitude 6.9 near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

The alert was issued at approximately 12:36 p.m. Friday in Japan, late Thursday in the United States, and canceled at 12:48 p.m., according to NHK. It warned of strong shaking across northern and central Japan, including the Tokyo region.

An early-warning display identified the location as the Kuril Islands region and showed an estimated magnitude of 9.9 at a depth of 140 kilometers (87 miles).

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the actual earthquake at magnitude 6.9, locating its epicenter approximately 76 kilometers (47 miles) northeast of Ozernovskiy, Russia. Its estimated depth was 143.2 kilometers (89 miles).

According to NHK, the earthquake did not produce shaking in Japan and no tsunami warnings were issued. The meteorological agency said it will investigate the error.

A magnitude 9.9 earthquake would be the largest ever recorded, exceeding the magnitude 9.5 quake that struck Chile in 1960, according to the USGS. It would release roughly 32,000 times as much energy as the actual magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Kamchatka.