False Ballistic Missile Alert in Hawaii: 'Wrong button' Sparked 38 Minutes of Panic in The US Pacific Island State
While the message caused concerns on social media, the Hawaii Office of Emergency Management responded after 38 minutes on Twitter, saying, "NO missile threat to Hawaii".
Washington D.C., January 13: Turns out, it took only one person to push Hawaii's buttons. Governor David Ige revealed that the emergency alert about an incoming "ballistic missile threat", which jolted Hawaiians awake, was a false alarm caused by someone pushing the "wrong button".
"It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button", Ige told CNN. "The warning went out to cell phones, television and radio got the emergency alert". "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill", the alert read.
While the message caused concerns on social media, the Hawaii Office of Emergency Management responded after 38 minutes on Twitter, saying, "NO missile threat to Hawaii".
S**T Scary Situation
Fair Point Well Made
Quite Surprising
Ige also issued a statement via Twitter, saying he wanted to "get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future". "While I am thankful this morning's alert was a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system", he wrote.
The White House issued a statement on the false alarm, noting that United States President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident. "This was purely a state exercise", the statement added.