Japan issues an “alert” on Friday for a potentially magnitude-9.9 earthquake, but officials withdraw it shortly afterward. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) later retracts the warning after determining the strong tremor it expected does not match the event that occurred.

According to reports, the alert is sent around the same time as a smaller earthquake—about magnitude 6.9—off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, which the JMA initially appears to have mischaracterized. One outlet notes that the warning is retracted roughly minutes after it is issued. Another outlet says transportation is temporarily disrupted as people respond to the alert. Coverage also highlights that the episode prompts questions about how the early-warning system determines magnitude and whether it can lead to public confusion, with officials indicating an investigation into the warning process.

Other reporting places the incident in context, noting that Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area prone to frequent major earthquakes.