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Japan mistakenly issues warning for record 9.9-magnitude earthquake

· ≈ Tokyo, Japan · single source so far

Officials withdrew an alert sent on Friday after wrongly believing a 9.9-magnitude earthquake had occurred. The tremor was in the end hardly felt.

Location
≈ Tokyo, Japan · Japan live map
Coordinates
≈ 35.68°N 139.69°E
Reported
16 Oct 2026, 14:08 UTC
Category
Disaster · Earthquake
Impact
1 of 5 · Watch
Situation
Seismic activity
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▲ Escalating

Dozens of M5+ quakes hit northwest of Port-Olry, Vanuatu, the largest M6.3 on Saturday

A cluster of earthquakes struck off Vanuatu on Saturday, led by a M6.3 at 10 km depth about 170 km NW of Port-Olry, followed by around a dozen more of magnitude 5.0 to 5.9. USGS PAGER alert levels were green for the larger shocks. Separately, a M5.8 was recorded in the Bouvet Island region on Saturday. Earlier in the period, a M5.7 and a M5.2 struck off Italy on Friday.

  • The Vanuatu sequence on Saturday included a M6.3, M5.9, and several M5.8 and M5.7 quakes, nearly all at 10 km depth.
  • A M5.5 at 195 km depth hit 55 km NNE of Port-Olry on Saturday.
  • A M5.8 hit the Bouvet Island region on Saturday, with a green PAGER alert.
  • Friday brought a M5.7 and a M5.2 off Italy, and a M5.1 off Japan; repeated M5.0 to M5.3 quakes also struck ENE of Nagqu, China.
Updated 24 Oct 2026, 16:09 UTC · Written by Claude from the reports on this page and on the map. Check the linked sources for full details.

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