This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
Earlier this morning, Hawaii sent out an emergency alert system notifying residents and tourists of a “ballistic missile threat” making its way to the big island.
It turns out that officials sent out the WRONG message. They were wanting to do a drill but sent out the “official” message that a missile was actually coming.
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
Who wouldn’t sh*t themselves if they got this kind of message on their phone?
NO missile threat to Hawaii.
— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018
Good news…after giving everyone a heart attack.
Can y’all give some more details on this? Why was this message sent? Was there a missile but it veered in a different direction or something? Transparency please!
— Pris Blossom (@PrisBlossom) January 13, 2018
Legit questions.
It’s been 5 minutes. Chill out.
— Ryan Pence (@pencerm) January 13, 2018
And a missile makes you go POOF, in case you didn’t know that.
https://twitter.com/JaysonAaron_/status/952245682659909632
EXACTLY.
Thank you for verification. Caused panic Statewide. What was reason for false alarm?
— Neil Ahearn (@AhearnNeil) January 13, 2018
Caused panic NATIONWIDE.
NORAD on false Hawaii missile alert:
"Possibly a hack or a very sick joke."
If true, US officials seriously need to look into the security of the EAS. https://t.co/Px7X7R7R2A
— DEFCONWarningSystem (@DEFCONWSALERTS) January 13, 2018
If this was a hack then the person needs to be imprisoned.
Hawaii Emergency Management sends out message saying the missile alert is a false alarm 45 minutes later pic.twitter.com/Y79Phzearz
— Honolulu Civil Beat (@CivilBeat) January 13, 2018
That’s quite the relief, right?
UPDATE: 2:10p.m. EST
Here are some videos of a tourist in their hotel room:
Would hiding under your bed or in your room really make a difference against a missile? Probably not.
Talk about a sign of relief.
CNN producer @lorenzaCNN describes receiving the false alarm in Hawaii: “We got alerts on our phone… we opened our sliding glass door to look out onto the beach, we saw probably 10 different families running, not walking, running back to their room.” https://t.co/iBTS3gVX0y pic.twitter.com/Xhi5W70Mx6
— CNN (@CNN) January 13, 2018
Ugh…
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
What a way to wake up.
https://twitter.com/NaluRivera/status/952254564488527872
No parent should have to make that difficult decision.
Not funny. We live in Hawaii and my wife was crying while holding our baby. Imagine how I felt seeing that.
— ht (@htran70) January 13, 2018
Every person thought they were going to diminish. That is NOT funny.
UPDATE: 2:30p.m. EST
"What the people of Hawaii went through … is a true realization that they’ve got 15 minutes to get to shelter or they’re going to be dead – Gone," — Rep. @TulsiGabbard pic.twitter.com/FZYcOWvnMQ
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 13, 2018
It’s a sad reality.
How many people had heart attacks while this happened ?
Anyone in the Bomb Shelter business can make millions in Hawaii in the next year
— SuzieQ?? (@MindfulnessWins) January 13, 2018
That’s one way of looking at it.
I’m from/living in Hawaii and it seriously scared the life out of my family and I. We were running around our house closing our windows and families were calling us. Even though it’s false, we should be prepared.
— ❥ (@rishsothick) January 13, 2018
Hopefully this means more families who live in Hawaii realize how detrimental their preparedness truly is.
https://twitter.com/TomiCollins/status/952260313511903233
Living dangerously. Huh.
What can we learn from the mistaken missile warning? We can learn what worked and didn't work in responding. Being angry about the mistake misses the point: the whole of Hawaii was alerted and began to respond! #hawaiistrong
— Sarah Sutton (@greenmuseum) January 13, 2018
This is definitely a learning tool.
UPDATE: 2:45p.m. EST
"I was sitting in the bathtub with my children, saying our prayers," says Hawaii state representative Matt LoPresti in emotional interview after false missile alert https://t.co/iBTS3gVX0y https://t.co/EBRyDLQa9q
— CNN (@CNN) January 13, 2018
Proof that even politicians are impacted by mistakes like this.
So sorry for all the people in Hawaii who went through that — we know someone who’s there with her family. Crying in closet texting goodbyes to loved ones, husband shielding their baby. Sounds traumatic. Hang in there, folks.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 13, 2018
Definitely traumatic.
I'm just waiting for @realDonaldTrump to calm things down with a tweet: "Do not worry, Hawaii! I had my finger on the Big Red Button on my desk ready to blow a North Korea sized hole in the other side of the globe if the Missile Threat had been real! Strength!"
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 13, 2018
That would probably make a LOT of Americans feel better.
Ok what just happened in Hawaii via the mistake by the U.S. Pacific Command is terrifying. Especially now. My God…
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 13, 2018
Hopefully this was a mistake and not a “prank.”
The emergency alert in Hawaii of an incoming ballistic missile was issued in error—but it is so very much a sign of our times.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) January 13, 2018
Sadly, Takei is right about this.
Mistakes happen. This one was bad. But 38 minutes to formally correct mistake is not acceptable.
And still waiting for an official to speak directly and explain. #hawaii— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) January 13, 2018
An INSTANT correction should have gone out.
The moment the EAS alert interrupted Hawaiian TV is terrifying pic.twitter.com/pVwpCBeRgD
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 13, 2018
That will give you the chills.
UPDATE: 2:55p.m. EST
CNN spoke with Hawaii Governor David Igle to find out what happened.
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/59YgP908fM pic.twitter.com/TGZyEd1b93
— CNN International (@cnni) January 13, 2018
You know someone is going to be fired.
The @FCC is launching a full investigation into the false emergency alert that was sent to residents of Hawaii.
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) January 13, 2018
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