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The Japan Meteorological Agency withdrew a false warning of a 9.9-magnitude earthquake minutes after issuing it, and apologized for the alert that caused disruptions to transport services.
The agency had warned on Friday of a 9.9-magnitude earthquake near the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Chishima Islands, which triggered emergency alerts on millions of mobile phones.
However, it later clarified that a 6.9-magnitude earthquake occurred off the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula at a depth of 160 kilometers shortly after Friday noon.
Agency official Shinya Tsukada told reporters, "We deeply apologize for the great inconvenience and anxiety we have caused the public."
The alert did not cause widespread panic, but it led to a temporary disruption of public transport.
According to the agency, the error resulted from a glitch in determining the epicenter of the earthquake.
Japan still recalls the memory of the violent 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011, which was followed by tsunami waves that left about 18,500 people dead or missing, and also led to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
Local media reported that a 9.9-magnitude earthquake would have released energy equivalent to about 22 times that released by the 2011 earthquake.
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