
About three years ago, the Earthquake Early Warning System was introduced in Japan. When the Japan Meteorological Agency detects that a stronger earthquake than a certain level is going to hit Japan, the agency will issue an Earthquake Early Warning/ 緊急地震速報. On TV, whenever the warning is issued, "At XXX areas, please be careful of a strong earthquake. Please don't rush and behave calmly. Please ensure your safety. A strong earthquake is coming in a few seconds " is announced. If you have cellphones and you are in an area where a strong earthquake is hitting, you will receive an alert text.
Since the devastating earthquake hit Japan, the warning has been issued very frequently. Whenever I receive them in public places, I'm frightened more because everybody receives the alert texts with the same ringtone at the same time. When the massive earthquake hit Japan, a Diet debate in Tokyo was being broadcast live on NHK (the public broadcasting service). When an Earthquake Early Warning was issued, the NHK announcer in Tokyo was calm. However, after a minute, people at the studio in Tokyo started feeling a huge quake and seemed to have a hard time broadcasting.
Please see the video in the link below.