False 'ballistic missile threat to Hawaii' message sent to residents in error, US military says
Updated
Hawaiians have been mistakenly sent an alert to their phones urging them to "seek immediate shelter" due to an incoming ballistic missile.
The US military's Pacific Command said there was no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii.
A spokesman for the command said it "detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii" and that the message warning had been sent in error.
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.
She 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."
Ms Gabbard also tweeted the mistaken alert, which said: "EMERGENCY ALERT BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency's Twitter account also said: "NO missile threat to Hawaii."
Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz said a false alarm about a missile threat was based on "human error" and was "totally inexcusable".
Senator Schatz on his Twitter account called for accountability and a foolproof alert process.
The incident, which caused residents to panic, occurred amid high tensions internationally over North Korea's development of a ballistic nuclear weapon.
Reuters/AP
Topics: world-politics, nuclear-accident, human-interest, hawaii, united-states
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