Minister Ibayashi’s Press Briefing
Overview
Minister Tatsunori Ibayashi explained the false emergency earthquake warning issued on October 16 and park land that has not been opened for use. The warning overestimated the earthquake’s magnitude, and no strong shaking was observed in Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency took emergency measures that day, and the minister instructed it to investigate the cause and improve forecast accuracy. Regarding park land, following an audit by the Board of Audit of Japan, each project operator has been asked to review the need for land that has remained unopened for more than 20 years every five years and report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Key points
- The emergency earthquake warning was issued after the earthquake’s magnitude was overestimated.
- The false warning was linked to flaws in calculation and forecasting methods, as well as the failure of previous countermeasures.
- Project operators were asked to review the need for park land that has remained unopened for more than 20 years every five years and report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
- The warning led people to take evacuation and safety measures and affected public transportation.
- An earthquake occurred near the Kamchatka Peninsula at 12:35 on October 16. Its magnitude was overestimated at 9.9, and an emergency earthquake warning was issued at 12:40 that day for areas from Hokkaido to the Chubu region, but no strong shaking was observed in Japan.
Overview
The Board of Audit of Japan examined 42 project operators across 10 prefectures and reported that about 65% of the land not yet opened for use had remained unopened for more than 20 years.
Impact
The minister said many people took evacuation and safety measures, and public transportation, including the Shinkansen, was also affected. He said he took seriously the failure to deliver an accurate warning.
Details
Causes of the false warning included flaws in some methods for calculating earthquake magnitude and forecasting seismic intensity, and the failure of previous measures intended to keep data from distant observation points out of magnitude calculations. The Japan Meteorological Agency implemented emergency measures that day to prevent similar overestimates.
The minister instructed the Japan Meteorological Agency to continue investigating the causes in detail and taking necessary measures, while improving forecast accuracy without holding back warnings that should be issued. He said the false warning was judged to have causes different from a cyberattack, and no unauthorized access was confirmed before or after it was issued. He said the agency would continue countermeasures in cooperation with relevant organizations and work to improve accuracy to protect lives and property.
In August this year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued an administrative notice to local governments nationwide. It asked each project operator to review every five years the need for park land that has remained unopened for more than 20 years and to report the results in sequence. The ministry said it would monitor the reports and work to make improvements, including by providing advice as needed.