False Alarm Of Incoming Ballistic Missile Threat Sparks Panic In Hawaii
People in Hawaii were sent into a panic Saturday morning when they got an emergency alert on their phones that...

People in Hawaii were sent into a panic Saturday morning when they got an emergency alert on their phones that said, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
Officials said quickly after that the alert went out by mistake and was a false alarm.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted, “NO missile threat to Hawaii.”
U.S. Pacific Command has detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii. Earlier message was sent in error. State of Hawaii will send out a correction message as soon possible. pic.twitter.com/hqidbV0BWn
— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) January 13, 2018
Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the agency in charge of providing aerospace warnings in North America, told BuzzFeed News, “There is no missile threat. We're trying to figure out where this came from or how this started. There is absolutely no incoming ballistic missile threat to Hawaii right now.”
“My phone's blowing up right now,” Nawrocki added.
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard also said on Twitter that she had confirmed with officials that the alert was a false alarm.
A Hawaii EMA spokesman also told BuzzFeed News that they were in the process of sending another message to cancel the initial alert.
“It was part of a drill that was going on,” they said.
The second alert went out about half an hour later.
“There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False alarm,” the message said.
The state began testing its nuclear warning system in December, CNN reported. It was the first time since the Cold War that Hawaii reinstituted the practice, and it comes as the U.S. sees heightening tensions with North Korea, which has increased its nuclear aggression in recent months.
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