The Japan Earthquake Rapid Report was 6.9, wrongly estimated at 9.9! Meteorological Agency apologizes and reveals reasons

A Taiwanese citizen working in Japan shared the situation with this newspaper, saying that during lunch, everyone in the office's cellphones rang. After ringing once, there was another message to cancel the alarm. "I was not shocked to death, but I was scared to death."

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued an emergency earthquake warning for an earthquake near the Kamchatka Peninsula today, but later canceled it. Estimates at the time were as high as 9.9 on the Richter scale, but it was actually 6.9. The largest earthquake actually observed was "magnitude 1" in Hakodate City, Hokkaido. The Japan Meteorological Agency held a press conference this afternoon to explain that the system had misjudged the earthquake source during processing, and also apologized, saying: "I would like to express my deepest apologies for causing great trouble to everyone."

According to comprehensive Japanese media reports, at around 12:38 pm Japan time today, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale occurred near the Kamchatka Peninsula. After receiving the earthquake message, the Meteorological Agency issued an emergency earthquake warning for the area from Hokkaido to Tokai at 12:40. However, the emergency earthquake warning was indeed a false alarm. The Meteorological Agency explained the reason as: "During the processing of the emergency earthquake warning, the earthquake source was misjudged to be the Kuril Islands and the Richter Scale was overestimated to 9.9."

As for the reason why the estimated scale is too large, the Meteorological Agency stated that it is "currently under investigation" and explained that "the results of the investigation will be explained to everyone as soon as possible." At the end of the press conference, the Meteorological Agency also apologized again: "I am very sorry for causing great trouble to everyone."

A Taiwanese citizen working in Japan shared the situation with this newspaper, saying that during lunch, everyone in the office's cellphones rang. After ringing once, there was another message to cancel the alarm. "I was not shocked to death, but I was scared to death."