TOKYO (HawaiiNewsNow) – At 12:40 p.m. Friday Japan time, people in Japan received an emergency alert from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warning they would be hit by a powerful earthquake.
But it was a mistake, reminiscent of the false missile alert in Hawaii nearly a decade ago.
Witnesses tell HNN their phones lit up and alarms sounded off in the streets during the busy lunch hour, warning folks to stay calm and seek shelter.
Eight minutes after the first alert went out, JMA canceled the warning in an alert only in Japanese, later apologizing and blaming a system error for the false alarm.
Hawaii News Now Reporter Casey Lund was taping a report in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood when the alarms went off, catching his reaction on camera in real time. He, along with a delegation from Hawaii, were in Japan this week for the U.S.-Japan Council conference.
Witnesses said they received a text message at 12:40 p.m. from JMA in Japanese that said an earthquake occurred in the Kuril Islands near Russia. In English, it read: “Earthquake Early Warning: Strong shaking is expected soon. Stay calm and seek shelter nearby.”
At 12:48 p.m., witnesses said they received another alert repeating the first alert in English and adding in Japanese that “The earthquake early warning issued earlier is being rescinded.”
State senator Troy Hashimoto was riding the train at the time with other Hawaii delegates and said they took their cue from Japanese passengers who were calm.
“When we got it on our phone, it just said, there’s an earthquake that’s going to happen soon. So we’re like, oh wow, you know, we don’t get advanced warning. And we didn’t realize it was such a big earthquake, but I think a few minutes later, we just got another alert and it said, OK, we’re withdrawing it,” Hashimoto said.
“But I think scary, you know, nevertheless, and I think for us because it’s not something we normally see, I guess we just didn’t know how to react.”
Oahu resident Tim Sakahara was outside his Shibuya hotel when he got the alert.
“Shock and is this real? but I figured I’m in Japan, so it probably is real. and so, you know, I started to kind of put my senses on and figure out like what am I going to do right now?” he recalled. “It’s a beautiful sunny day, you don’t expect to get an alert for a severe earthquake and prepare to die, right?”
He began recording on his phone and considering his options.
“My thought was, well, I’m going to try to go under this tree, because if glass starts falling, maybe that’s going to be a little bit better shield,” he said.
According to reports, Japanese officials miscalculated the strength and epicenter of the earthquake.
JMA initially forecast a 9.9-magnitude earthquake in the area, but in reality, a much smaller earthquake struck the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia, causing just a mild tremor for some in Japan.
The quake’s magnitude was actually 6.9, according to the United States Geological Survey.
A tectonic incident with a 9.9-magnitude earthquake has never happened in recorded history.
Witnesses said it reminded them of the false missile alert back in 2018, which was attributed to human error.
“Earthquake prediction isn’t an exact science, maybe the Russia earthquake triggered something on Japan’s network and sensors,” Sakahara said.
“We have to see what the fallout is, if maybe somebody pressed instead of 6, it can be turned into a 9, who knows, but I’m sure the Japanese will have an explanation and take a quick action to fix that kind of thing,” Hashimoto said.
An investigation is underway into the cause of the error. JMA has said a safety feature was not working properly.
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