Twitter and other social media erupted in a panicked storm of mixed messages on Saturday after a report of a missile headed toward Hawaii was issued. Emergency Alerts were sent out, reading “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII.SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” as Cold War era sirens blared across the beautiful terrain. The initial alert was sent out to islanders at around 8 a.m. local time and it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that authorities had begun to address the mistake directly.
Authorities and leaders of the island nation jumped quickly to Twitter to calm residents of Hawaii from panic. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard tweeted confirmation of the false alarm. Senator Brian Schatz sent out that the mistake was because of human error and called for the “fool-proofing” and other changes to improve the emergency alert system for the future. Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also tweeted “NO missile threat to Hawaii” a short time after the alert was sent.
HAWAII – THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE. pic.twitter.com/DxfTXIDOQs
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) January 13, 2018
Recently, the island and its defense agencies have been on high alert. Tensions flare in North Korea and the Pacific Island state is the closest American soil to North Korea, making it the prime target. North Korean missile tests and threats have had citizens worried, but today they were scared for their lives and made for shelter as soon as the alerts came out. Buses and cars stopped in the middle of the streets as people ran for safety and vacationers were shocked by the news.
This was my phone when I woke up just now. I'm in Honolulu, #Hawaii and my family is on the North Shore. They were hiding in the garage. My mom and sister were crying. It was a false alarm, but betting a lot of people are shaken. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/m6EKxH3QqQ
— Sara Donchey (@SaraDonchey) January 13, 2018
“Hawaii” jumped straight to the top of trends on Twitter and all were wondering what could have caused this mistake. The skepticism and fear is quite reminiscent of Cold War era tensions, but with the added information hotbed of Twitter available. The Governor of Hawaii, David Ige, has accredited the mistake to an employee who ‘hit the wrong button’ during a shift change.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai, said the agency would be investigating the incident.
