News Two small quakes make one big

Across the Kanto region and in parts of Fukushima Prefecture, alarms suddenly rang out at 11:02 a.m. Friday from cellphones and public speakers. "Emergency earthquake warning," the text of the cellphone alert from the Meteorological Agency read. "An earthquake has occurred off the coast of Ibaraki. Prepare for strong shaking."

But the jolt never came to the region. The agency had estimated that a magnitude 6.4 earthquake would hit off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture. In fact, that quake was magnitude 4.4 and 3 on the Japanese intensity scale. But at the same time, a second quake hit Toyama Prefecture, this one a magnitude 3.9 that also measured 3 on the Japanese scale. The erroneous warning — and unnerving alarms — came as a result of the two quakes being processed by the prediction system as one event, a statement released by the Meteorological Agency said. The agency said it will further investigate the incident and make efforts to improve the system.

Click to expand...