Someone "pushed the wrong button" to send out a false alert to warn of an inbound ballistic missile alarm to Hawaiians, according to Hawaii Gov. David Ige.
The incident occurred during an employee shift change, Ige added while speaking with CNN.
JUST IN: Hawaii Governor David Ige tells CNN that someone "pushed the wrong button" during an employee shift change, sending out the false alert about an incoming ballistic missile https://t.co/FD1vl6fCzh pic.twitter.com/2zhXLApLcr— CNN (@CNN) January 13, 2018
Cellphones, televisions, and radio stations received the morning emergency alert, which claimed it was not a drill.
Local officials and the U.S. Pacific Command have since confirmed that the emergency alert was sent out in error to residents of the island chain, which recently tested out a Cold War-era nuclear warning siren in response to North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
Lawmakers and Ige are seeking answers for what exactly happened so that the mistake will not be repeated.
"While I am thankful this morning’s alert was a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system. I am working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future," Ige said in a statement.
Ige tweeted that he is meeting with "top officials of the State Department of Defense and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to determine what caused this morning’s false alarm and to prevent it from happening again."
The White House put out a statement to say President Trump has been briefed on the situation.
"The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise," said White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters.
