Image copyright Twitter Image caption The message Hawaiians saw on their phones

An incoming missile alert plunged residents of Hawaii into panic on Saturday morning before it was declared a false alarm.

Mobile phone users received a message saying: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

State Governor David Ige apologised and said it was caused by an employee pressing the wrong button.

The US government announced there would be a full investigation.

An alert system is in place because of the potential proximity of Hawaii to North Korean missiles.

In December, the state tested its nuclear warning siren for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption One man told US broadcaster CBS that he started running when the alarm sounded

How was the alert released?

The false warning message was sent to people's mobile devices, and was also broadcast on television and radio stations.

The phone message notification, all in capital letters, went out at 08:07 (18:07 GMT).

It was corrected by email 18 minutes later but there was no follow-up mobile text for 38 minutes, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.

Governor Ige said human error during one of the thrice-daily shift changes at the state's Emergency Management Agency (EMA) was to blame for the false alert.

"It was a procedure that occurs at the change of shift where they go through to make sure that the system, that it's working. And an employee pushed the wrong button," he explained.

"It was an inadvertent mistake," said EMA administrator Vern Miyagi. "The change of shift is about three people. That should have been caught... it should not have happened."

Television and radio broadcasts across the state were interrupted with a recorded emergency message instructing people to stay indoors.

"If you are outdoors seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows. If you are driving pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter in a building while laying on the floor. We'll announce when the threat has ended. This is not a drill!"

How did Hawaiians react?

People in the US state have been sharing stories of momentary frenzy and the panic-stricken messages they exchanged with loved ones after they received the alert.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show students at the University of Hawaii running for shelter after the missile threat was issued.

Image copyright Instagram/@SIGHPOUTSHRUG via Reuters Image caption An electronic sign in Oahu after the false alarm

Matt Lopresti, a member of the Hawaiian House of Representatives, was at home when he received the alert on his mobile phone.

He described how he and his family had sought shelter in a bath tub.

"We got our children, grabbed our emergency supplies, put them in our most enclosed room in our house which is our bathroom," he told local broadcaster KGMB.

"We put them in the bath tub, said our prayers, tried to find out what the hell was going on because we didn't hear any alarms, any of the sirens.

"There's not much else you can do in that situation. You know, we did what we could... and I am very angry right now because it shouldn't be this easy to make such a big mistake."

Golfers were also thrown into alarm ahead of the US PGA Hawaii Open in Honolulu, with US player Talor Gooch tweeting that "birdies didn't seem too important for a few minutes".

What happened with the button?

After the US military confirmed no missile threat had been detected, and the alert had been released in error, Governor Ige explained:

"It was a procedure that occurs at the change of shift which they go through to make sure that the system is working, and an employee pushed the wrong button."

What is being done to prevent this happening again?

Ajit Pai, chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission, announced the investigation on Twitter.

US President Donald Trump, who was in Florida at the time of the alert, was briefed on the false alert, the White House said.

Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, tweeted: "Today's alert was a false alarm. At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to the community is accurate. We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again."

Why was Hawaii already on edge?

North Korea's missile and nuclear programme is seen as a growing threat to America. Hawaii is one of the US states closest to North Korea.

In September Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear test.

Last month, the Star-Advertiser reported that a missile launched from North Korea could strike Hawaii within 20 minutes of launch.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The siren has a different tone from a natural disaster warning siren

Didn't something similar happen in Japan this month?

A false earthquake warning was sent to millions of Japanese people's phones on 5 January, causing a brief panic and disrupting Tokyo's transport network.

It turned out to be a false alarm triggered by an error in the earthquake warning system.</s>Social media ignited Saturday after apparent screenshots of cell phone emergency alerts warning of a "ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii" began circulating, which US officials quickly dismissed as "false."

"Hawaii - this is a false alarm," wrote Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard on Twitter. "I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile."

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency also confirmed there is "NO missile threat to Hawaii."

The emergency alert that some cell phone users received read: "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

US military spokesman David Benham said the US Pacific Command "has detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii. Earlier message was sent in error," adding that the US state would "send out a correction message as soon as possible."

The warning came across the Emergency Alert System, which authorities nationwide use to deliver vital emergency information to the public.

It caused panic across the US island chain following months of soaring tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile program.

The North has been working towards developing a missile that can deliver an atomic warhead to US territory, heightening fears of potential attack.</s>HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii emergency officials say an alert of a ballistic missile threat is a false alarm.

The alert stated there was a threat “inbound to Hawaii” and for residents to seek shelter and that “this is not a drill.”

The alert caused a panic when it went to people’s cellphones Saturday morning but, shortly after, authorities said it was a mistake.

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Rapoza says it’s not clear what caused the alert to go out.</s>An emergency alert sent mistakenly warning of an incoming ballistic missile sent Hawaii into panic on Saturday, with scrambling for shelter. The alert was corrected 39 minutes later and Hawaiin authorities said the message was sent after an employee hit the wrong button during a shift change drill that takes place three times a day, The New York Times reported.

“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the bogus alert sent at 8.07 am to cellphones statewide read. The false alert comes amid escalation tensions between North Korea and the United States over Pyongyang’s development of ballistic nuclear weapons.

Though the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there was no threat about 10 minutes later, most people who are not on the social media platform continued to be panicked. About 40 minutes after the initial alert, an alert informing them of the false alarm was sent to the cellphones.

Hawaii Governor David Ige and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi apologised and vowed that the incident will not be repeated. White House spokesperson Lindsay Walters said it “was purely a state exercise”.

“I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused. I, too, am extremely upset about this and am doing everything I can do to immediately improve our emergency management systems, procedures and staffing,” said Ige said.

The Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said that his agency planned to investigate the false warning, NBC reported.</s>An incoming missile alert plunged residents of Hawaii into panic on Saturday morning before it was declared to be false.

Mobile phone users received a message saying: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency later confirmed there was no threat.

The alert system is in place because of the potential proximity of Hawaii to North Korean missiles.

In December, the state tested its nuclear warning siren for the first time since the end of the Cold War.

It is still unclear how the initial mistake was made.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser says emergency officials mistakenly sent the message out by text, all in capital letters, at 08:07 (18:07 GMT) before correcting the error by email 18 minutes later.

There was no follow-up mobile text until 38 minutes after the original alert, it said.

In a tweet, the state's Emergency Management Agency (EMA) said simply: "NO missile threat to Hawaii."

EMA spokesman Richard Repoza said the agency was trying to determine what had happened, the Associated Press news agency reports.

The agency describes reaction in the state as "full-blown panic".

Jamie Malapit, owner of a Honolulu hair salon, texted clients to say he was cancelling their appointments and closing his shop for the day, AP reports.

He said he had still been in his bed when his phone started ringing "like crazy".

Afterwards, he was still "a little freaked out" and feeling paranoid even after hearing it was a false alarm, AP adds.

According to the CNBC news channel, the alert "momentarily put recipients into a state of frenzy, with scores reportedly running for shelter".

The alert came amid a growing threat from North Korea's missile and nuclear programme. Hawaii is the closest US state to North Korea.

In September Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear test.

Last month, the Star-Advertiser also reported that a missile launched from North Korea could strike Hawaii within 20 minutes of launch

Were you sent one of these alerts? Or do you know someone who was sent an alert? Please tell us your experiences. Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

You can also contact us in the following ways:
• Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international)</s>Hawaiians were sent into a panic on Saturday after a false alert claimed that a ballistic missile was heading for the islands.

Around 1 p.m. ET, social media lit up with Hawaiian residents and visitors who received cellphone alerts warning that a projectile was heading for the island. The message, which was transmitted by the Civil Defense department, was accompanied by an ominous warning that the alarm was "not a drill."

The erroneous alert sent recipients into a state of frenzy, with scores reportedly running for shelter and taking cover, until Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard debunked the alert as a false alarm. Hawaiian officials, as well as the U.S. Pacific Command, followed suit but not until nearly 40 minutes later.

"State Warning Point has issued a Missile Alert in ERROR! There is NO threat to the State of Hawaii," U.S. Pacific Command's David Benham said in a statement.

The U,S. Federal Communications Commission confirmed to NBC News that it's launching an investigation into the false emergency alert.

The panic ensued as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have been heightened — a fact that was not lost on Hawaiians and visitors who were sent scrambling as the mistaken alert hit cellphones.

Jodi Luchs, an ophthalmologist from Merrick, N.Y. visiting Hawaii for a conference, told CNBC that he was settling in for breakfast on an otherwise perfect day, when hundreds of diners received the false alarm simultaneously.

"On the face of it, it was extremely concerning ... everyone got up in a rather orderly fashion and started filing toward the interior areas of the hotel" because the venue had no basement, Luchs told CNBC. About half an hour passed before the hotel's guests got an all-clear, he said, adding that some people were legitimately scared and in tears until they realized the alarm was false.

"Most people were obviously very relieved about everything, and the concern was real given that the wording of the message did not leave much to the imagination," Luchs told CNBC. "With tensions with North Korea, everyone regarded this as a serious threat."

North Korea has tested a volley of ballistic missiles over the last few years, and has repeatedly threatened the U.S. with nuclear conflict. Amid the threat, Hawaii last month tested a nuclear siren warning for the first time since the Cold War.</s>A push alert that warned of a ballistic missile heading straight for Hawaii and sent residents into a full-blown panic on Saturday was a mistake, state emergency officials have said.

A push alert that warned of a ballistic missile heading straight for Hawaii and sent residents into a full-blown panic on Saturday was a mistake, state emergency officials have said.

Missile alert which caused panic on Hawaii was a mistake, officials say

For nearly 40 minutes, it seemed like the world was about to end in Hawaii, an island paradise already jittery over the threat of nuclear-tipped missiles from North Korea. The emergency alert, which was sent to mobile phones statewide just before 8.10am, said: "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

On the H-3, a major highway north of Honolulu, vehicles sat empty after drivers left them to run to a nearby tunnel after the alert showed up, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Workers at a golf club huddled in a kitchen fearing the worst.

Professional golfer Colt Knost, staying at Waikiki Beach during a PGA Tour event, said "everyone was panicking" in the lobby of his hotel. "Everyone was running around like, 'What do we do?'" he said.

Richard Ing, a Honolulu attorney, was doing a construction project at home when his wife told him about the alert. His wife and children prepared to evacuate while he tried to figure out what was happening.

"I thought, 'Oh my god, this is it. Something bad's about to happen and I could die,'" she said. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted there was no threat about 10 minutes after the initial alert, but that didn't reach people who aren't on the social media platform.

A revised alert informing of the "false alarm" didn't reach phones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media. The incident prompted defense agencies including the Pentagon and the US Pacific Command to issue the same statement, that they had "detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii".

The White House said president Donald Trump, at his private club in Florida, was briefed on the false alert. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said it "was purely a state exercise." House Speaker Scott Saiki said the system Hawaii residents have been told to rely on failed miserably.

He also took emergency management officials to task for taking 30 minutes to issue a correction, prolonging panic. "Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations," he said in a statement. Hawaii Governor David Ige apologised for the "pain and confusion" caused by the alert.

Hawaii US Senator Brian Schatz tweeted the false alarm was "totally inexcusable" and was caused by human error. "There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process," he wrote. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said on social media the panel would launch an investigation.

With the threat of missiles from North Korea in people's minds, the state reintroduced the Cold War-era warning siren tests last month that drew international attention. But there were problems there, too. Even though the state says nearly 93% of the state's 386 sirens worked properly, 12 mistakenly played an ambulance siren. At the tourist mecca of Waikiki, the sirens were barely audible, prompting officials to add more sirens there and to reposition ones already in place.</s>HONOLULU (AP) — A push alert that warned of a ballistic missile heading straight for Hawaii and sent residents into a full-blown panic Saturday was issued by mistake, state emergency officials said.

The emergency alert, which was sent to cellphones just before 8:10 a.m., said in all caps, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there was threat about 10 minutes later. But a revised push alert stating there was no threat went out sometime after that.

Agency spokesman Richard Repoza confirmed it was a false alarm and the agency is trying to determine what happened.

The incident prompted defense agencies including the Pentagon and the U.S. Pacific Command to issue the same statement, that they had “detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii.”

Michael Kucharek, spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, said NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command are still trying to verify what happened in Hawaii — but that “NORAD did not see anything that indicated any sort of threat to Hawaii.”

NORAD is a U.S.-Canada joint command that conducts aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning to defend North America.

The White House said President Donald Trump, who is in Florida, was briefed on the false alert. White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said it “was purely a state exercise.”

The alert caused a tizzy on the island and across social media.

At the PGA Tour’s Sony Open on Oahu, Waialae Country Club was largely empty and players were still a few hours from arriving when the alert showed up. The tournament staff urged the media center to evacuate. A local radio show from the clubhouse, next to glass windows that overlook the Pacific, kept broadcasting. Staff members at the club streamed into the clubhouse and tried to seek cover in the locker room, which was filled with the players’ golf bags, but instead went into the kitchen.

Several players took to Twitter.

“Just woke up here in Hawaii to this lovely text. Somebody can verify this?” tweeted Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.

Justin Thomas, the PGA Tour player of the year, tweeted, “To all that just received the warning along with me this morning … apparently it was a ‘mistake’?? hell of a mistake!! Haha glad to know we’ll all be safe.”

In Honolulu, Jaime Malapit, owner of a hair salon, texted his clients that he was cancelling their appointments and was closing his shop for the day. He said he was still in bed when the phone started going off “like crazy.” He thought it was a tsunami warning at first.

“I woke up and saw a missile warning and thought ‘no way.’ I thought ‘No, this is not happening today,'” Malapit said.

He was still “a little freaked out” and feeling paranoid even after hearing it was a false alarm.

Richard Ing, a Honolulu attorney, was doing a construction project at home when his wife told him about the alert.

He dug his phone out and had confirmed he had the same alert. Attempts to find further information on the television or radio didn’t provide further information, but then he saw on Twitter that it was a false alarm.

While he was trying to confirm, his wife and children were preparing to evacuate in case they needed to move to safer ground.

After finding out it was a mistake, Ing tried to find some humor in the situation.

“I thought to myself, it must be someone’s last day at work or someone got extremely upset at a superior and basically did this as a practical joke,’ he said. “But I think it’s a very serious problem if it wasn’t that, or even it was, it shows that we have problems in the system that can cause major disruption and panic and anxiety among people in Hawaii.”

Others were outraged that such an alert could go out in error.

Hawaii U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted the false alarm was “totally inexcusable” and was caused by human error.

“There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process,” he wrote.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai also took to social media to announce the panel would launch an investigation.

Associated Press writers Caleb Jones in Honolulu, Doug Ferguson in Maui, Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Jim Anderson in Denver and Tom Strong in Washington contributed to this report.</s>A few minutes ago, phones across Hawaii received the above emergency alert about a "ballistic missile threat inbound," but according to state officials, it isn't true. US Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii's governor David Ige and the state's Hawaii Emergency Management Agency all chimed in on Twitter to confirm the alert is false. It took 38 minutes before a second alert reached phones, confirming that the first one was a mistake.

Honolulu police confirmed in a post that "State Warning Point has issued a Missile Alert in ERROR!," while Buzzfeed reporter Amber Jamieson tweets that one EMA employee said it was a part of a drill. US Senator from Hawaii Brian Schatz said the "inexcusable" alert "was a false alarm based on a human error" while the National Weather Service called it a "test message."

The governor said on CNN that "It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button."

In 2016 the FCC voted to expand Wireless Emergency Alerts, allowing for more detailed messages that can recommend action, or link to more information about an AMBER Alert. Later this month, it will vote on changes that could allow for more precisely targeted local alerts. This incident will probably come up in the discussion.

Update: The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency broadcast a press conference about the incident live on Facebook and released a statement (PDF). The governor, along with the head of the EAM, laid out a timeline for what happened. During a test of the system around 8:07 AM local time, it appears that an employee needed to click a box in the interface to send the test message, but clicked the wrong area and sent out a real notification across TV, wireless and radio. The tests occur three times a day around shift changes and have been going on since November.

While they quickly realized there was a mistake, there was no template or system set up for sending out a cancellation message, leading to the 38-minute gap.</s>Panic spread across Hawaii on Saturday morning after a false alarm warned of a ballistic missle headed for the tiny US state located in the Central Pacific.

The emergency alert, which was sent to cellphones statewide just before 8.10 am, warned people about an inbound missile and asked them to seek immediate shelter.

“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the alert read.

However, it took nearly 40 minutes for Hawaiian authorities to send a revised alert. They said it was mistakenly sent after someone hit the wrong button during a shift change. “We made a mistake,” said Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi.

Spooked by the emergency alert, people abandoned cars on state highways and prepared to flee their homes. Hawaii has been facing a nuclear threat from North Korea, which claims its missiles can hit the archipelago and other parts of the US. The state had recently reintroduced the Cold War-era warning siren tests last month.

Hawaii House Speaker Scott Saiki said the system Hawaii residents have been told to rely on failed miserably. He also took emergency management officials to task for taking 30 minutes to issue a correction, prolonging panic.

“Clearly, government agencies are not prepared and lack the capacity to deal with emergency situations,” he said in a statement.

For their part, Hawaii Gov. David Ige and Miyagi, the emergency management administrator, apologized and vowed changes.

“I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused. I, too, am extremely upset about this and am doing everything I can do to immediately improve our emergency management systems, procedures and staffing,” Ige said.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App
An emergency alert warning of an inbound ballistic missile is accidentally sent out across the U.S. state of Hawaii at 8:07 HST, before being cleared as a false alarm 38 minutes later. This event caused panic and disruptions across the state on the archipelago inhabited by roughly 1.7 million people.