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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});
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?
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
Or, this was real but neutralized and then disavowed with a cover story.
I'm pretty sure the feds wouldn't send a nationwide alert for a localized threat. Initiating mass panic is dangerous enough over a small area.
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
Bring them to shelter. People have survived nuclear attacks before, no doubt they will in the future as well. If you avoid being killed by the initial blast and radiation you want to shelter from the fallout, most of which fades in two weeks.
Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Fallout Protection - What to Know and Do about Nuclear Attack
Nuclear Strike Drills Faded Away In The 1980s. It May Be Time To Dust Them Off
Nuclear weapons and their effects operate according to the laws of physics, not magic. The physics, effects, and countermeasures are known.
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
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
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.
I really liked this TED talk about it: Surviving a Nuclear Attack.
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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