Hawaii Goes To Panic Mode As False Missile Warning Issued

An emergency notification lit up cell phones Saturday across Hawaii, falsely warning that a ballistic missile was inbound, driving residents already nervous about threats from North Korea into panic mode.

"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," the message sent to Hawaiians read, according to screenshots posted to social media. Emergency management officials in Hawaii said the message was sent in error.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said she had confirmed with officials there was no incoming missile to Hawaii. The warning sent to Hawaiian's phones comes when nuclear tensions between the U.S. and North Korea are flaring and people are legitimately concerned of a missile strike on U.S. soil.

U.S. Pacific Command, which is located on the island of Oahu and is the military's headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region, said in a tweet that the command had not detected any ballistic missile threat to the state and the emergency message was sent in error. The state will send out a correction message as soon as possible.

Brian Schatz, the senior U.S. Senator from Hawaii, said the alert was a human error.

"There is nothing more important to Hawai'i than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process," he wrote on Twitter.

Hawaii is the closest state to North Korea, and its large military presence could make it more of a target. It also hosts dozens of Navy ships at Pearl Harbor and is a key base for the Air Force, Army and Marine Corps.

Residents were shaken up the warning, rushing to talk to their loved ones. One Twitter user wrote that he frantically sought shelter before calling his parents to say he loved them. Screenshots posted to Twitter showed that nearly 40 minutes elapsed before a correction was sent out by state officials.

"The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise," The White House said in a statement. "This was purely a state exercise."

Vern Miyagi, administrator for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, has said a nuclear strike on Hawaii would result in thousands of deaths, thermal radiation, severe damage to critical infrastructure, widespread fires and other chaos. The state also recently reactivated a Cold War-era siren for nuclear warnings.

"While I am thankful this morning’s alert was a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system," Hawaii Gov. David Ige said in a statement. "I am working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future."

Patch will update this report.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Photo: A Hawaii Civil Defense Warning Device, which sounds an alert siren during natural disasters, is shown in Honolulu on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017. The alert system is tested monthly, but on Friday Hawaii residents will hear a new tone designed to alert people of an impending nuclear attack by North Korea. The attack warning will produce a different tone than the long, steady siren sound that people in Hawaii have grown accustomed to. It will include a wailing in the middle of the alert to distinguish it from the other alert, which is generally used for tsunamis. Photo by Caleb Jones/Associated Press