Japan issues, then retracts, false magnitude 9.9 earthquake alert

Key facts

• A magnitude 9.9 earthquake alert was issued across Japan.
• The alert was retracted eight minutes later.
• The false alarm was due to a miscalculation of data from a magnitude 6.9 earthquake near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
• The actual earthquake caused no damage or tsunami danger in Japan.

Phones and loudspeakers across much of Japan announced a magnitude 9.9 earthquake alert at 12:40 p.m. local time on Friday, October 16, 2026. The warning, which would have been the biggest earthquake ever recorded, was issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). Residents rushed outside in anticipation of severe shaking, but no earthquake reached the island nation. The JMA retracted the alert eight minutes later, stating that computer systems misread signal data from an actual magnitude 6.9 tremor that occurred near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The US Geological Survey confirmed the real earthquake was deep underground and caused no damage or tsunami danger in Japan. The agency apologized for the false alarm and is investigating the software glitch.