Japan Meteorological Agency

Japan Mistakenly Warned of a Magnitude 9.9 Quake After a Magnitude 6.9 Struck Near Kamchatka

By Plainly Now News Desk Published October 16, 2026

The snow-streaked Koryaksky volcano rising above the harbor and hills of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the far shore of Avacha Bay, with cranes along the waterfront and a bank of cloud across the slope.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near Kamchatka at 11:35 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to USGS, at a depth of 135 km. Japan’s weather agency issued a warning for a magnitude 9.9 quake it mistakenly placed in the Kuril Islands, then withdrew it about eight minutes later.

Copernicus Reports a Record 29.70 C Sea-Surface Temperature in the Pacific’s El Nino Zone in September

By Plainly Now News Desk Published October 12, 2026 Updated October 16, 2026

Globe view of the Pacific Ocean showing a band of unusually warm sea-surface temperatures along the equator, in dark red, from the central Pacific to South America.

Copernicus reported a record 29.70 C monthly sea-surface temperature in the Nino3.4 region in September; the article explains what that does and does not show.

Magnitude 5.9 Earthquake Shakes Tokyo and Kanto Region, Injures at Least 37

By Plainly Now News Desk Published August 23, 2026 Updated October 16, 2026

The Tokyo skyline, including Tokyo Tower, in Minato City -- the wider Tokyo area where strong shaking from the Aug 23, 2026 Ibaraki earthquake was felt

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck southern Ibaraki Prefecture at about 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, August 23, 2026, with strong shaking felt across Tokyo