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Hawaii ballistic missile text message alert was 'false alarm' Hawaii ballistic missile text message alert was 'false alarm caused by human error'
(35 minutes later)
A text alert warning people in Hawaii to seek immediate shelter from an incoming ballistic missile was a false alarm, the state's emergency management agency has said. A text alert warning people in Hawaii to seek immediate shelter from an incoming ballistic missile was a false alarm, the state’s emergency management agency has said.
The message, issued to mobile phones on Saturday morning, read in block capitals: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill." The message, issued to mobile phones on Saturday morning, read in block capitals: “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
More follows… The text was sent out by the national Emergency Alert System, designed to allow the US government to warn Americans within 10 minutes of authorities learning of a threat.
  The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency confirmed the false alarm on social media shortly after the alert was issued.
It said: ”NO missile threat to Hawaii. False alarm. We’re currently investigating.”
Tusli Gabbard, Democratic Representative for Hawaii, said she spoken to officials to confirm there was not threat.
“Hawaii – this is a false alarm,” she tweeted. “There is no incoming missile to Hawaii. I have confirmed with officials there is no incoming missile.”
​Brain Schatz, a US Senator for Hawaii, said the text was sent due to “human error”.
“There is nothing more important to Hawaii than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process,” he added.
Hawaii last year reinstated a Second World War-style missile warning system amid fears of an attack by North Korea.
Sirens which had not been tested since the Cold War were brought back in response to a war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
Experts believe a North Korean missile could take just 20 minutes to reach Hawaii, leaving people with little time to react.