Abroad in Japan · Friday, October 23, 2026
Pete Ronald McDonaldson and Chris Broder discussed an erroneous earthquake early warning in Japan that flashed a magnitude 9.9 alert on mobile phones after a real 6.9 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The warning was cancelled eight minutes later, and the Japan Meteorological Agency stated it incorrectly applied formulas meant for domestic earthquakes to a distant quake.
“The meteorological agency of Japan, the system that they employ to figure out how, you know, shaky shaky everything's going to be, it incorrectly estimated the earthquake's location and overstated its magnitude. Which isn't ideal. It had applied formulas designed for earthquakes within Japan to a quake much farther away.”