False Missile Threat Causes Panic in Hawaii

Hawaii residents received a text on Saturday morning, warning of an impending missile strike but it was later declared a false alarm.

"Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill," read the message, according to reports.

Many expressed their panic over social media as the U.S. and North Korea have exchanged threatening tweets of Nuclear war recently.

Minutes after the alert, however, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) said she had confirmed there was no missile.
“HAWAII - THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE,” Gabbard tweeted.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency later confirmed there was no threat.

"State Warning Point has issued a Missile Alert in ERROR! There is NO threat to the State of Hawaii!"

The Honolulu Star said emergency officials had mistakenly sent the message out by text at 08:07 a.m. before correcting the error some 20 minutes later. It is not clear how or why the mistake was made.

Last month, Hawaii tested its nuclear warning siren for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

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