The Internet Broke Emergency Alerts
It’s hard to imagine a worse way to be awoken on a Saturday morning in paradise than with a blaring klaxon accompanying a government alert about an inbound ballistic missile attack. But that’s exactly what happened to more than 1.5 million people in Hawaii this morning.
“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII,” the emergency alert read, in all-caps, on smartphones. “SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” Hawaii residents tuned-in to television or radio heard an even more threatening message, made worse by its monotone, computer-synthesized delivery. “The U.S. Pacific Command has detected a missile threat to Hawaii. A missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
Except, it was indeed a drill—there was no missile threat, and the alert had been sent in error during what the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency called a “regular system drill.” Easily screencapped, the mobile alerts spread like wildfire within minutes. On Twitter, Tulsi Gabbard, who represents Hawaii’s, desperately trying to assuage citizens and visitors that the message was erroneous: “HAWAII - THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII.”
