HAWAII (REUTERS, AFP, BLOOMBERG) - The US military’s Pacific Command said on Saturday (Jan 13) there was no threat to Hawaii after an official message was erroneously sent to Hawaii residents’ mobile phones warning them of an imminent ballistic missile attack.
The US Federal Communications Commission announced that it was initiating a full investigation of the incident.
The erroneous alert came from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. CNN reported that Governor David Ige said it was sent when an employee pushed the wrong button during a shift change.
The agency later said on Twitter: “NO missile threat to Hawaii.”
A spokesman for the Pacific Command also said it “detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii and that the message warning had been sent in error.
The false alarm was issued amid high international tensions over North Korea’s development of a ballistic nuclear weapon.
North Korean President Kim Jong-un has threatened to unleash his country’s growing missile weapon capability against the US territory of Guam or US states, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten tough actions against Pyongyang, including“fire and fury".
Hawaii has been on high alert given claims by North Korea that its newest intercontinental ballistic missile could fly 13,000km. If true, that would put even the mainland US within range from Pyongyang.
Trump was wrapping up a round of golf at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when the problem was unfolding. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said he was briefed and that it “was purely a state exercise".
A spokeswoman for US Representative Tulsi Gabbard said she checked with the state agency that issued the alert and was told it was sent in error.
Gabbard then tweeted, “HAWAII – THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE.”
Gabbard also tweeted the mistaken alert, which stated:“EMERGENCY ALERT BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
In an interview on CNN, an angry Gabbard said, “I think first you’d be horrified and, second, once you realised it’s not going to happen, now the anger is going to come.”
Though the alert was eventually deemed false many Hawaii residents heeded the nerve-wracking warning, taking refuge in hallways and basements.
Lauren McGowan, on holiday in Maui with family members and friends, was on her way to breakfast when her phone blared the alert. She and her family quickly returned to their hotel, where staff ushered them along with some 30 people to a basement cafeteria and distributed water and food.
'JARRING'
The alert and rush to shelter caused “confusion,” McGowan said, particularly for the children in the group.
“No one had any idea what was really going on,” the 28-year-old from New York told AFP, explaining they had no cell service underground.
“It was a bit jarring for sure,” she said of the experience.
However, McGowan added, “I’m not going to let it ruin the rest of my vacation” and it’s “definitely good to know that the system works.”
Several golfers participating in the US PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Honolulu also reacted to the alarming episode.
“Under mattresses in the bathtub with my wife, baby and in laws,” American golfer John Peterson tweeted. “Please lord let this bomb threat not be real.”
After news spread that there was no inbound missile fellow golfer Talor Gooch also took to Twitter, writing: “Welp this was quite a ‘mistake’ made by someone. Birdies didn’t seem too important for a few minutes.”
“Let’s make sure this one doesn’t happen again POTUS,” Gooch added.
Hawaii, a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, has a population of about 1.4 million people, according to the US Census Bureau, and is home to the US Pacific Command, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet and other elements of the American military.
The US Navy base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, was the target of the surprise attack by Japan on Dec 7, 1941, that drew the United States into World War II.
In November, Hawaii said it would resume monthly statewide testing of Cold War-era nuclear attack warning sirens for the first time in at least a quarter of a century, in preparation for a possible missile strike from North Korea, state officials said at the time.
US Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said on Twitter, “Today’s alert was a false alarm. At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to the community is accurate. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again.”
