Japan's weather agency cancels wide-area earthquake warning minutes after issuing it

TOKYO, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Japan's weather agency on Friday canceled an earthquake warning minutes after issuing it for a wide area extending from Hokkaido to central Japan.

At around 12:40 p.m. local time, Xinhua reporters in Tokyo received an earthquake warning from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on their mobile phones, but the agency did not subsequently release details such as the quake's epicenter or magnitude.

At around 12:48 p.m., the JMA issued a follow-up notice announcing that the warning had been canceled.

The agency said it is looking into the cause.