Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency on Saturday said there is no missile threat to the state, despite an emergency alert that directed residents to seek immediate shelter due to an inbound “ballistic missile threat.”
NO missile threat to Hawaii.
— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018
White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters told reporters that President Donald Trump had “been briefed on the state of Hawaii’s emergency management exercise.”
“This was purely a state exercise,” Walters said.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) tweeted, “I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile.”
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
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said the alert was “a false alarm based on a human error.”
There is no missile threat. It was a false alarm based on a human error. There is nothing more important to Hawai‘i than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 13, 2018
A spokesman for the state’s emergency management agency told BuzzFeed News, “We have absolutely no indication it was any kind of hacking.”
Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency spokesman said the agency had been performing a standard drill and normally an alert wouldn't be sent, so they suspect a technical issue occurred: "We have absolutely no indication it was any kind of hacking."
— Amber Jamieson (@ambiej) January 13, 2018
Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) said he is “working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future.”
STATEMENT: 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.
— Governor David Ige (@GovHawaii) January 13, 2018
The National Weather Service in Honolulu released a statement saying that the initial alert was “a test message.”
“The Warning Message received this morning DOES NOT DEPICT A REAL MISSILE THREAT. It was a test message,” the service said.
The initial alert was sent out to mobile devices and broadcast on television.
Omg pic.twitter.com/ZbDTL1rcaF
— Michelle Broder Van Dyke (@michellebvd) January 13, 2018
TV with the alert pic.twitter.com/VCZAtvyuzQ
— Michelle Broder Van Dyke (@michellebvd) January 13, 2018
A second alert to residents read, “There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False alarm.”
Just got this second alert, almost 40 minutes later. pic.twitter.com/q2uVL5cMDV
— Sonali Kohli ?? (@Sonali_Kohli) January 13, 2018
This post has been updated.