PSA: Hawaii officials confirm ‘ballistic missile threat’ emergency alert sent to iPhones was false alarm

People in Hawaii woke up to a terrifying emergency alert sent to iPhones and other devices that officials now say was sent in error.

The emergency alert read ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.’, but fortunately was actually a mistake possibly as part of a drill despite the message claiming to be real.

The accident is clearly a massive mistake and one that requires a follow up alert to ensure people know the message was sent in error. Officials were quick to say a correction alert would follow, although it took nearly 40 minutes for that to occur.

The error was reportedly due to an “internal only drill” that was clearly not internal only and labelled “not a drill”.

As The Washington Post reported in November, sirens to warn of ballistic missile attacks were reinstated last month in response to growing concern of a potential North Korea nuclear threat. It’s possible the two are related. Starting December 1, Hawaii has begun testing those sirens on the first of each month.

Man at Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency told me: "We're in a process of sending another message to cancel the initial message. It was part of a drill that was going on." https://t.co/2eQ30UQY9e

— Amber Jamieson (@ambiej) January 13, 2018

A second emergency alert has been issued that reads: “There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm.” Officials also say there is no sign that hacking occurred.

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 – 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

NO missile threat to Hawaii.

— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018

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