{
  "id": 15140375,
  "title": "Japan retracts mistaken magnitude 9.9 quake alert",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/japan-retracts-mistaken-magnitude-9-9-quake-alert-15140375",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-17T06:13:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Channel News Asia",
    "slug": "channel-news-asia",
    "url": "https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/japan-retracts-mistaken-magnitude-99-quake-alert-6468016"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) withdrew an erroneous alert for a magnitude 9.9 earthquake minutes after issuing it on October 17. The initial warning claimed the quake occurred near the Kuril Islands, which triggered loud emergency alerts on millions of mobile phones and caused brief disruptions to public transport. JMA official Shinya Tsukada apologized to the public for the inconvenience and concern caused by the error.\n\nAccording to the Malay Mail, the error resulted from an anomaly in calculating the earthquake's epicentre, as the magnitude was based on an incorrect assumption that the epicentre was roughly 680 kilometres farther from Japan than it was. The JMA later clarified that a 6.9-magnitude earthquake had actually occurred near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula at a depth of 160 kilometres. Both Channel News Asia and the Malay Mail report the earthquake occurred near the Kamchatka Peninsula at a depth of 160 kilometres.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Japan retracts mistaken magnitude 9.9 quake alert",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/japan-retracts-mistaken-magnitude-9-9-quake-alert",
        "published": "2026-10-17T03:23:36.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Japan apologises after erroneous 9.9-magnitude earthquake alert disrupts transport",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/japan-apologises-after-erroneous-9-9-magnitude-earthquake-alert",
        "published": "2026-10-17T04:15:59.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}