India, Oct. 16 -- The Japan Meteorological Agency on Friday mistakenly sent out a 9.9-magnitude earthquake alert, reportedly after a 6.9 tremor hit Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, later withdrawing the warning.

The false warning was issued on Friday afternoon (local time), and had forecast strong shaking across northern, eastern and central Japan, Japan Times reported. An early-warning display identified the location as the Kuril Islands region and showed an estimated magnitude of 9.9 at a depth of 140 kilometers (87 miles), BNO News reported.

The actual earthquake of 6.9 magnitude, centered off the Kamchatka Peninsula, had occurred at around 12:36 pm (local time). Following this, a warning was issued, setting off alarms on public speaker...