昨日はみなさん、唖然としていたと思います。わたしも同様。
　緊急のアラート音がスマホから聞こえてきて、これまでの体験でいちばん記憶している2018年９月６日03時07分、北海道の胆振地方中東部を震源とする地震を想起していた。　
　あのときは真夜中で寝ぼけたアタマで緊急警報に起こされ室内で揺れを感じさせられていた。札幌のわが家周辺は震度5程度だったけれど「あ、これで・・・」と一瞬思ったほどだった。幸い、わが家では特段の被害はなかったけれど、市内各所で被害が出ていた。
　・・・あれくらいは来るのかもと身構え、推移を注視していた。カミさんはテレビを点けたが民放局だったので「NHKにしてね」と注文して見ていた。当初は「千島列島」という発表だったので、そういう×印が画面の地図に表記されて、アナウンサーと「解説役」が画面に映っていた。しかし、一向に揺れが来る気配がない。おいおいであります。しかし、まさかすぐに緊急体制を解くワケにもいかない。時間だけが経っていった。
　そうしたらまた、スマホからの緊急アラート。「・・・揺れに注意してください」みたいなアナウンス。
　しかし、テレビ画面では「警報が解除された」というアナウンス。「え？いま再度の緊急警報があったのに？」という疑問の追い打ち。あとで知ったが、警報が解除されるお知らせも、緊急アラートと同じように驚くような音声として流れてくるのだという情報だった。
　たしかに緊急アラートからの「解除警告」というのは聞いたことがなかったので、後者のアラートというのは初めて知ったことになる。
　ふ〜む。みなさん、まぁ地震も来なかったのだからまぁいいか、と思われたことでしょう。同意。
　しかし、その後の気象庁の「お詫び・説明」がなんとも釈然としなかった。そういう声が多かったと見えて、その後追加で会見が行われていたとのこと。中央省庁が２回も会見に追い込まれること自体、前代未聞。
　そしてその説明はふたたび「チンプンカンプン」。
　ひたすら20年前に導入したという予報システムの細部についての意味不明の「釈明」を行っていて、国民がふつうに知りたい説明としてはまったく用をなしていなかった。
　どうもわたしには、むしろ国家システム「不具合」の表面化と感じられてならなかった。むむむ。

　＜写真は記事とは無関係の神居古潭です。地震関連ではありません。念のため＞

●お知らせ
拙書「作家と住空間」幻冬舎から電子書籍で発刊
お求めはAmazonで。
https://amzn.asia/d/eUiv9yO

English version⬇

[Major Earthquake Alert: “False Alarm and Explanation” — Is the National System in Crisis?]
Although an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 1 was recorded in Hakodate, I can’t help but wonder if the real problem lies in the structure of the national system, which seems to cause issues with information management. …

　I think everyone was stunned yesterday. I was, too.
　When the emergency alert sounded on my smartphone, it reminded me of the earthquake that occurred on September 6, 2018, at 3:07 a.m.—the one I remember most vividly from my past experiences—with its epicenter in the central-eastern part of Hokkaido’s Iburi region.　
　Back then, it was the middle of the night, and I was woken up by the emergency alert while still half-asleep, feeling the shaking inside my room. The seismic intensity around my home in Sapporo was about 6, but for a split second, I thought, “Oh, so this is it…” Fortunately, there was no significant damage to my house, but damage was reported in various parts of the city.
　…Bracing myself for the possibility that something of that magnitude might happen, I kept a close eye on the situation. My wife turned on the TV, but since it was a commercial station, I told her, “Switch to NHK,” and watched that instead. Initially, the announcement mentioned the “Kuril Islands,” so a cross mark indicating that area appeared on the map on the screen, and the anchor and a “commentator” were shown on the screen. However, there was absolutely no sign of any shaking. I was getting impatient. But of course, they couldn’t just lift the emergency alert right away. Time just kept passing.
Then, another emergency alert came through my smartphone—an announcement along the lines of, “…Please be aware of shaking.”
　But on the TV screen, there was an announcement saying, “The alert has been lifted.” This only added to my confusion: “Huh? But didn’t we just get another emergency alert?” I found out later that the notification that the alert had been lifted is also broadcast with the same startling audio as the emergency alert itself.
　I’d certainly never heard of a “cancellation alert” following an emergency alert, so this was the first time I’d learned about that second type of alert.
　Hmm. I’m sure many of you thought, “Well, since no earthquake actually happened, I guess it’s all right.” I agree.
　However, the Japan Meteorological Agency’s subsequent “apology and explanation” was utterly unconvincing. Apparently, there were many such complaints, and an additional press conference was held afterward. The fact that a central government agency was forced to hold two press conferences is unprecedented.
　And that explanation was once again “utterly incomprehensible.”
　They spent the entire time offering incomprehensible “explanations” about the minutiae of a forecasting system supposedly introduced 20 years ago—which served absolutely no purpose in terms of the kind of explanation the public actually wants to hear.
To me, it felt more like a “malfunction” in the national system coming to the surface. Hmm.

● Announcement
My book, *Writers and Living Spaces*, has been published as an e-book by Gentosha.
Available on Amazon.

Posted on 10月 17th, 2026 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 未分類