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Fake 'Inbound Missile' Alert Sent To Every Cellphone in Hawaii (chicagotribune.com)
"Somebody sent out a false emergency alert to all cell phones in Hawaii saying, 'BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL'," writes Slashdot reader flopwich, adding "Somebody's had better days at work." The Associated Press reports:
In a conciliatory news conference later in the day, Hawaii officials apologized for the mistake and vowed to ensure it will never happen again. Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi said the error happened when someone hit the wrong button. "We made a mistake," said Miyagi. 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...
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... 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 cellphones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media.
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... 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 cellphones until 38 minutes later, according to the time stamp on images people shared on social media.
Bring me my Brown Pants!!
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
This message ostensibly was sent to every cell phone in Hawaii - didn't the guy who "pushed the wrong button" get the alert as well?
And seriously - their first thought when sending out a correction was a Tweet? Don't they have the ability to send an "all clear" over the same channel they sent the "LOOK OUT YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!!!" message?
#DeleteChrome
I'm thinking it may not have been so accidental. This is possibly the only way to get good data on how effective the warnings are. My guess: not very effective at this point. But someone higher up needed that data to complete his that assessment regarding war with the Koreans.
So, they have a button programmed to broadcast a missile attack, and the operator "hit it by mistake."
So what other alert buttons are pre-programmed on the board . . . ?
"GIANT TUNA DEVOURING BEACH VISITORS!"
"AI POWERED SLINKY ARMY ATTACKING PASSENGER CARS!"
And, of course, worst of all:
"HAWAII DECLARED TO BE A SHITHOLE!"
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
"Purely a state exercise" is disavowing all knowledge and responsibility at the Federal level. Translation: "We're staying out of this one."
From Monsters vs Aliens.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
One of my first memories was in 1950 when the communists in NK invaded the south and the UN voted on a resolution against them. Did you forget almost 70 years of history?
Did any other state get a similar warning? No? Then how was it not a state deal? If the feds has messed up we all would have gotten a notice on our phones, or at least some other part of the U.S.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Funny part is that there was a prompt for "are you sure?"
I don't read AC
It wasn't a "fake alert" it was a real alert from the real Agency empowered to issue them, that's way worse than a "fake" one.
It was a mistake... That's not the same as being "fake", words matter. Editor's please take some English classes before posting any more.
On the 24th floor of a Waikiki Beach condo balcony having coffee when the alert came on my cell. First reaction...WTF?? Second reaction... went straight to the roof. If it's gonna go down, I want to see it (if only for a few milliseconds).
What, me worry?
Hope I never read a message like that again.
Didn't last long, but people were running red lights, etc.
Friends were trying to decide which of their children to save.
Hanlon's Razor.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
Yes and no. Yes, they can easily get a list of everyone's number, but no, it is a little more difficult to locate each individual number at any given time.
Instead, the broadcasts are sent based on connected tower. Think of it just like a broadcast packet on a LAN Subnet. Phones connected to the particular towers (in this case, literally every single tower in the state) received the message.
This is also pretty much the same system the AMBER alter system uses.
I grew up in the 60s and 70s. I remember some of the cold war films they showed us in school. According to them:
Stay indoors. If you’re close enough to the blast, you’re probably dead anyway (that was mostly just implied). For many more people, though, fallout is going to be the main worry - so stay inside. And even if you still have running water... you probably shouldn’t drink it. Use what’s already in the back of the toilet and in your hot water heater.
Of course nowadays, post 9/11, most reservoirs are supposedly covered - so I have no idea if that’s as important.
In any case, water is probably going to be the main short term issue. If you have some pre-blast warning, filling up as many containers as possible with water is a good idea.
#DeleteChrome
Scaring the crap out of everyone is considered "a state exercise?"
It was a mistake by state officials, plain and simple.
Hawaii officials give timeline of events surrounding false alarm
Approx. 8.05 a.m.: A routine internal test during a shift change was initiated. This was a test that involved the Emergency Alert System, the Wireless Emergency Alert, but no warning sirens.
8.07 a.m.: A warning was erroneously triggered statewide by an employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA).
8.10 a.m.: State Adjutant Maj. Gen. Joe Logan validated with the US Pacific Command that there was no missile launch.
Honolulu Police Department notified of the false alarm by HI-EMA.
8.13 a.m.: State Warning Point issues a cancellation of the Civil Danger Warning Message. This would have prevented the initial alert from being rebroadcast to phones that may not have received it yet. For instance, if a phone was not on at 8.07am, it would not receive the alert later on.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Although interesting to see what happened after "the wrong button was pressed", I would still love to know more about how such a terribly incorrect action could be triggered so easily with no outside verification. Like the governor doesn't even get one minute to verify and cancel a state-wide alert?
I know time is of the essence in these things but it just seems crazy a shift change could trigger this, and in a way crazier that if that was possible, it never happened before. It seems pretty obvious something must have changed recently to allow this to happen, what was that?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Scaring the crap out of everyone is considered "a state exercise?"
Yes.
It was a state warning system activated by state employees that was sent to everyone in the state of Hawaii.
The clear meaning is that there was no federal involvement in the alert.
Ken
Why do you imagine that the only way the message could be sent to every phone is to have a list of all phone numbers? I suspect the system relies on beacon signals broadcast from cell towers that every cellphone within range picks up, displays the message, then stores a record of the alert for a pre determined period of time (24 hours), after which the alert is ignored.
Do you really imagine the system sends out several million simultaneous text messages? Why just send a message to every device within range?
Ken
There should be more of this in the US. Lots more. In fact, we should reinstate bi-yearly air raid drills for schools and businesses. For everyone within 100 miles of a strategically important target. That would be 95% of the population I bet. Remember that the nukes are wayyyyyy more powerful nowadays? It needs to be made perfectly clear to the US population that if our great leader pops his top and starts a nuclear confrontation, people have a 10% chance of survival, and that's only IF they manage to get to a shelter. A ton of people in this country have forgotten that the world is connected. They think that they can just ignore the rest of the world and they will be fine. Personally, I think that a lot of this has to do with the fact that WW2 is fading into the rearview mirror. Up until the last decade, there were a lot of vets from that war still around. People who were actually in Japan after the bombs and saw it with their own eyes. Lots of people who lost friends and family members fighting overseas. The population generally understood that what happens on the other side of the planet can come home to roost on their own doorsteps. We've largely forgotten this, and we elected an unstable, unqualified, angry leader and put him in charge of the nuclear arsenal. Because hey, we don't really believe anymore that what happens on the other side of the world can actually impinge on our lives in any real way. The entire US population needs a brutal reminder of how small the world actually has become. We all ought to spend some time practicing the soothing art of putting our heads between our legs and kissing our asses goodbye. Let all those conservative rural parents and grandparents spend some time answering awkward questions from the kids about the air raids drills they get at school.
Trump is trying to create... a problem in Korea where there has never been one before?
You can't be that stupid.
Ever heard of the Korean War? They made a tv show about it called M.A.S.H., it was quite popular.
There was also a movie, called Team America, that explored some of the issues involved with North Korea.
Every president since Eisenhower has had to deal with a "North Korea Problem", even Obama, the difference is Trump isn't trying to bribe North Korea to get them to pretend to suspend their nuclear weapons efforts...
Ken
Scaring the crap out of everyone is considered "a state exercise?"
It was a mistake by state officials, plain and simple.
My interst is that I would want to know where the thing is aimed for, so I could stand a few miles away and enjoy the show. Radiation poisioning isn't pretty, and to actually witness the explosion, then get quickly incinerated seems like the ticket. Google Hiroshi Ouchi - but only if you have a very strong stomach. Ouchi and another fellow were pouring Uranyl Nitrate solution into a container, and for some reason poured 16 Kilograms worth of Uranium into a vessel that was only supposed to have 2.4, and there went the pretty blue flash that announced to them that they had a criticality. Ouchi caught 17 freaking sieverts of radiation, when 8 is likely to kill ya. His buddy Shinohara experienced 10 sieverts. They ded. For some reason the powers that be did everything possible to keep him alive, possibly to save face, but the combination of having no more skin, losing incredible amounts of bodily fluids - one day over 20 Kg, and organ failure. 83 friction days of nuclear provided happieness, as you can see by his last photo. But once again, don't look if you are sensitive - it looks like something from a horror movie.
Which is why my popcorn and tequila party to witness the event and check out before I turn into Mr Ouchi is much more appealing. And if it is a fake or a mistake, at least we had a fun party.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Duck and cover, mocked endlessly, is a good way to react. If you are close enough either the radiation or the blast will kill you outright, but that's a pretty small area (particularly when its a maybe 20kt fission weapon from Korea, probably with an impact trigger). Otherwise, your biggest danger is from the flying debris. Ducking out of the way of flying glass and getting under some substantial cover to avoid falling roofs and ceilings will certainly raise your odds of getting through it.
Baby boomer here. I remember when they taught this shit in school. Stay in your house, away from windows, keep curtains drawn. Have a battery radio and fill up containers with drinking water.
There are multiple ways for a nuclear strike to kill you: ionizing radiation burn, pressure wave, thermal radiation burn, firestorm, and fallout. Each has its own characteristic radius within which you will probably die from it, but your chances are improved by being inside.
You car would be a bad idea for many reasons unless it is in a garage. If your car is outside it will get quickly covered with very hot short-lived radioactive fallout. The gamma rays will cut through your car like it wasn't even there. You want physical distance to cut down your radiation dose until the hottest isotopes decay. The area in which the fallout will kill you quickly actually begins to contract after only an hour or so, even though the fallout is spreading. The area in which short exposures to fallout represents a health risk starts to drop after a day.
Get inside, stay inside, listen on the radio for the all clear.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
you don't need everyones number for these sort of broadcast alerts, hell your phone doesn't even have to be connected, as long as it can receive the broadcast towers signal it should display the alert.
It's not a universal law, it's a methodological tool for critical thinking. Like Occam's razor, it encourages you to include no more assumptions than you have evidence for.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
I don't know, people can wrap their heads around fucking up once. A second such incident would probably have the result you mentioned, though.
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Feature phones like most flip-phones are not equipped with this protocol, so folks like me with a Samsung T-219 for example are blissfully unaware of all this silliness. At some point I gather the cell towers will require me to get a new device, but so far I can't find a new mobile telephone with real buttons, no web, and no camera; most confusing.
FALSE. NK missles have gone a bit over Japan. There is zero indication they have the technology to hit anything besides the ocean.
FALSE. The missiles were a lot more than a bit over Japan, in one case the apogee was 4,500km. An ICBM will generally have an apogee of about 1,200km, so by flattening the trajectory the range can be greatly increased.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency says that during its 53 minutes flight time, the missile soared some 4500km into space — that’s 10 times higher than the orbit of the International Space Station.
Defence analysts say this demonstrates it has the power and range of a fully functional ICBM capable of travelling more than 10,000km - putting all of the United States mainland and most of the world within its reach.
http://www.news.com.au/world/a...
So, if I shout "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, I can just say it was an "accident"? I suppose, with the right connections...
The guy responsible should at least have to wear a pink tutu and dance the "Sugar Plum Fairy" downtown during rush hour.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Depends on the altitude of the blast. EMP is primarily produced by the interaction of gamma rays with the upper atmosphere. A single large warhead detonated at an altitude calculated for maximum casualties would almost certainly NOT produce the kind of EMP effects lazy thriller writers have taught the public are an inevitable part of any nuclear attack.
I know this because I've critiqued a number of science fiction manuscripts, and the "huge bomb creates the end of technological civilization" scenario is so popular as an inciting incident in crummy manuscripts that I actually did the research that the authors didn't do. The optimal profile for an EMP attack is a large number of small, non-thermonuclear atomic warheads detonated well above the stratosphere. This is not to say there would be *no* EMP effects of a ground level burst, but they're likely to affect long conductors like transmission lines, not the printed circuit traces in a transistor radio.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Scaring the crap out of everyone is considered "a state exercise?"
It was a mistake by state officials, plain and simple.
My interst is that I would want to know where the thing is aimed for, so I could stand a few miles away and enjoy the show. Radiation poisioning isn't pretty, and to actually witness the explosion, then get quickly incinerated seems like the ticket.
Knowing where to be in Hawaii to see a nuclear attack, and not be injured, is easy to figure out.
If North Korea is dropping one its new 250 kT warheads on Hawaii (which could possibly be a 500 kT design), they will be dropping it on the Honolulu/Pearl Harbor urban/military complex. They are cheek by jowl and regardless of the actual aim point, the entire area will get devastated. 72% of Hawaii's entire population lives on Oahu (a total of 950,000 people in the island) and 81% of those live in or near the Honolulu urban area.
According to NukeMap site (airburst option) such an attack with a 250 kT warhead on downtown Honolulu would kill about 215,000 and injure 155,000, thus making 40% of the population of Oahu (and 30% of the entire state) as casualties. If the military complex at Pearl Harbor is targets then "only" 40,000 would die, but 180,000 would be injured.The worst case, a 500 kT warhead on Honolulu would kill 265,000 and injure 175,000.
An attack would likely be an airburst (which produces the most blast and thermal radiation damage) and which produces no local fallout. Even if a ground burst the tradewinds blow steadily to the south-west, to west and blow the fallout away from the rest of the island.
So the place to be is somewhere on Oahu that is outside of the southern coastal strip, and you will want to be at least nine miles away from its detonation point. This would put you outside of the thermal burn range (even for first degree) even if its yield is 500 kT. So most anywhere on the north half of the island will be fine.
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
The official statement is that state employee "hit the wrong button on a computer". Unlike a physical button you'd imagine when he clicked "Send Alert To Everyone In State" button there would be a "Are you sure?" follow up question -- or two -- with possibly "Sending mass alert in 10...9...8... press Cancel to abort". And then if it was a mistake, wouldn't he have clicked on the button again and said "sorry ignore the last one" immediately, not after 38 minutes?
Could it be that the said employee was acting on his own, possibly having been in distress?