On the morning of January 13, 2018, an alert was accidentally issued via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert System over television, radio, and cellular networks in the U.S. state of Hawaii, instructing citizens to seek shelter due to an incoming ballistic missile. The message was sent at 8:08 a.m. local time and the state had not authorized civil defense outdoor warning sirens to sound.
38 minutes and 13 seconds later, state officials blamed a miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency for the first message. Then-Governor David Ige apologized for the erroneous alert. The Federal Communications Commission and the Hawaii House of Representatives launched investigations into the incident, leading to the resignation of the state’s emergency management administrator.
Escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States, including threats by both countries that they could use nuclear weapons against one another, prompted a heightened state of readiness in Hawaii.[2][3][4] North Korea had conducted several intercontinental ballistic missile tests over the past year, most recently in November 2017,[5] enhancing its strike capabilities.[6] It is possible that North Korea may have the capability to deliver nuclear missiles to Hawaii.[7][8] Hawaii is located roughly 4,600 miles (7,400 km) from North Korea,[3] and a missile launched from North Korea would leave approximately 12 to 15 minutes of warning time.[9]
Hawaii officials had been working for some time to refresh the state’s emergency plans in case of a nuclear attack from North Korea.[3][10] An October 2017 email from the University of Hawaii to students with the subject line “In the event of a nuclear attack”,[11] containing instructions from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency on how to react in case of a nuclear attack,[12] caused controversy;[11] a university spokesman ultimately apologized for “any needless concern it may have caused”.[13] Testing of the civil defense warning sirens and attack drills were also conducted in the state on the first business day of the month beginning in December 2017.[4][14][15][16] On December 1, 2017, a nuclear threat siren was tested in Hawaii for the first time in more than 30 years,[3][16][17][18] the first of what state officials said would be monthly drills.[15][16][19] At 11:45 a.m. on January 2, 2018, the state conducted its monthly test of the civil defense outdoor warning siren system including the sounding of a one-minute Attention Alert Signal (Steady Tone) followed by a one-minute Attack Warning Signal (Wailing Tone).[20] There was no exercise or drill accompanying the test.[20] Prior to January 13, 2018, 26 drills had been conducted.[21] Vern Miyagi, the administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, explained that state leaders “couldn’t ignore these constant threats and missile tests from North Korea” and felt the need to prepare residents for the possibility of an attack. Officials also outlined what would happen if an emergency alert were sent: a push alert to smartphones and a message interrupting television and radio broadcasts.
Earlier in January 2018, U.S. Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said the commission planned to vote to overhaul the wireless emergency alert system.[23][24] The proposed reforms include providing more detailed information in alerts and confining emergency notifications to a more specific geographic area. Pai said he hoped the reforms, which would take effect if approved by the FCC, would lead to greater use of the alert system in local emergency situations and prompt people to take alerts they receive more seriously.
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Local television broadcasts, including a college basketball game between Florida and Ole Miss being shown on CBS affiliate KGMB and a Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Everton on NBC affiliate KHNL, were also interrupted by a similar alert message, broadcast as a Civil Danger Warning. The alert message on television broadcasts took the form of both an audio message and a scrolling banner.
