Earthquake Early Warning (EEW)

緊急地震速報（警報）

Earthquake Early Warning (EEW)

An earthquake has just started and strong shaking (seismic intensity 5-lower or more, or long-period ground motion class 3+) is predicted. JMA sends it when two or more seismometers detect the quake; the areas named expect intensity 4 or more. You have seconds to tens of seconds, or none if you are near the epicentre. It is a prediction: real shaking can be stronger or weaker, and it does not say exactly when shaking arrives.

What to do now

1. Protect yourself first: take cover under a sturdy table or desk and protect your head.
2. Stay away from windows, shelves, TVs and anything that can fall.
3. Do not rush outside and do not try to put out fires until the shaking stops.
4. Tell people around you.
5. When the shaking stops: if you are near the coast, check for a tsunami warning; then check for fire and gas.

Don't

• Don't run outside during shaking (falling glass, signs, tiles).
• Don't use elevators.
• Don't brake suddenly while driving.

How long: Shaking lasts seconds to minutes. Aftershocks are common for days, and strong ones can follow.

On 2026-10-16 at 12:40 JST JMA issued an EEW (warning) from Hokkaido to Chubu after over-estimating a distant quake as M9.9 near the Kuril Islands; it was later cancelled. JMA says a filter that ignores stations more than 700 km away had not worked; it fixed it at about 21:30 that day and apologised. False alarms are rare, so act on every EEW.

Issued by: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA); pushed to every phone in the area by the carriers (loud buzzer), plus TV and radio. Live status: JMA warnings map (English)JMA earthquake information (English)JMA tsunami information (English)

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