Twitter Nervously Laughs At Hawaii False Missile Alarm Reactions
A false missile attack alert sent Hawaiians into panic on Saturday, while others tried to laugh it off on social media.
Hawaiians received an alert via text message on Saturday morning local time saying: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent out a notification about 40 minutes after the false alarm was initially sent saying there was no threat.
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 (@KPRC2Sara) January 13, 2018
Other officials also told Hawaiians the alert was a false alarm -- but that was after people had already panicked about a possible attack. The National Weather Service said in a statement that the alert was a “test message.”
“U.S. Pacific Command has detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii,” defense officials said on Twitter. “Earlier message was sent in error. State of Hawaii will send out a correction message as soon possible.”
U.S. Pacific Command has detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii. Earlier message was sent in error. State of Hawaii will send out a correction message as soon possible. pic.twitter.com/hqidbV0BWn
— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) January 13, 2018
NO missile threat to Hawaii.
— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said the false alert was based on “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
While the alert was scary to Hawaiians, people on social media poked fun at the situation afterwards, going after Hawaii officials usings GIFS and memes.
Meanwhile, at the Emergency Broadcast System Headquarters#Hawaii pic.twitter.com/U2qbEcLHxf
— Swear Trek (@swear_trek) January 13, 2018
You know, with everything going on lately now is not the time for a false Ballistic Missile warning in Hawaii. pic.twitter.com/9G9gtyCvHN
— Isabella Steele 💙 (@MsBellaSteele) January 13, 2018
Thanks. Y’all had all of Hawaii shakin and you can’t even say “hey sorry” pic.twitter.com/MzWJBCKIyZ
— 𝚜. (@SchaeYamashiro) January 13, 2018
I think I’m going to sue Hawaii for the stress i was just put under. 😂
— e (@ebonyqueenb33) January 13, 2018
a laid back Saturday afternoon in January 2018 is a New York Times alert that reads, "No one is bombing Hawaii."
— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) January 13, 2018
All of Hawaii is like: pic.twitter.com/V3mwdWSyGM
— Megan Carver (she/her) (@classycarver) January 13, 2018
Meanwhile, over at Civil Defence, Hawaii pic.twitter.com/u8FgHvPbPs
— IT'S YOUR DECISION, DANIEL (@MrKenShabby) January 13, 2018
Hawaii officials looking at missile threat button pic.twitter.com/D6Wce8Vtxk
— WatahMillen🍉🍉 (@Watahmillen) January 13, 2018
Others shared the scary banners on their screens telling them to seek shelter:
The moment the EAS alert interrupted Hawaiian TV is terrifying pic.twitter.com/pVwpCBeRgD
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 13, 2018
@msnbc they just flashed a false alarm across my screen 🚨 #Hawaii pic.twitter.com/rJthonpTBW
— 🅿️erez 🅿️eretz 🏳️🌈 (@Jethro_Aryeh) January 13, 2018
People were also furious about getting the false alert that sent people into panic:
Now text from US department stating missile heading towards Hawaii was a false alarm! Should not have happened in the first place! Frightened the daylights out of the guests in our Waikiki hotel! @theheraldsun @BBCWorld @cnnbrk pic.twitter.com/MfN83qyV4m
— Mike Lee (@MikeOWLee1) January 13, 2018
What just happened in Hawaii is really, really bad. A disastrously wrong warning isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s life-threatening, because people will be less likely to trust future warnings. https://t.co/sbpQisxcE6
— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) January 13, 2018
For some Hawaiians it was a wake up call:
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