Japan issues false 9.9 magnitude earthquake warning

On October 16, 2026, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) triggered a nationwide emergency alarm after an automated system incorrectly reported a massive 9.9 magnitude earthquake. The alert, which was sent to millions of mobile phones, caused widespread panic across the country before being retracted within minutes. Officials later apologized for the disruption caused by the incident.

The JMA clarified that the error occurred due to a technical miscalculation of the earthquake's epicenter and magnitude. While the automated system initially misidentified the event near the Kuril Islands, it was later confirmed that a real seismic event had occurred near the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia with a magnitude of 6.9 and an focal depth of approximately 160 kilometers. The faulty system had erroneously placed the epicenter 680 kilometers further from Japan than it actually was, leading to an extreme overestimation of the potential impact.

The incident has sparked concerns regarding the reliability and accuracy of the country’s automated early warning infrastructure. Japanese authorities are currently reviewing the system’s performance to prevent similar false alarms in the future.