Sirens are sounding across the United States as a warning for a potential missile strike.
The sirens have been heard in New York, Chicago, and other major cities. The alert comes after North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on October 27th. In response, President Trump has said that “all options are on the table” in terms of how to respond to the threat. This is not the first time that sirens have sounded across America in recent years. In 2018, Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency accidentally sent out an alert saying that a ballistic missile was headed towards the island state.
What is happening?
The sirens were activated at around 3:45pm Eastern Time on October 27th and lasted for about 40 minutes. This means that they began sounding at around 1:45pm Pacific Time, which is when Hawaii is located.
Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency sent out an alert saying “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL” at 8:07am Hawaiian Standard Time (1:07am Eastern Time). However, it turned out to be a false alarm and was caused by human error during a shift change at the agency.
What happened with Hawaii?
A staff member accidentally selected an incorrect option from a drop-down menu which led to this false alarm being sent out statewide.
How did this happen?
According to Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA), there are two ways that alerts can be sent out through their system – one which requires no action from staff members and another which does require staff input. The agency said in their statement that “the employee who issued the false alert believed” they were using the right procedure for sending out an emergency message but “made an error” by selecting this option instead of one that would have required staff input.
