Japan’s public broadcaster errantly issued a warning of a North Korean missile launch just days after Hawaii caused panic for its citizens by triggering a false emergency alert of an incoming missile.
Japanese broadcaster NHK issued the alert Tuesday evening saying: “It appears North Korea launched a missile.”
“Evacuate inside buildings or underground: government,” the alert read.
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The warning was flashed across the broadcaster’s website and residents with the news station’s mobile app received the alert on their phones. NHK also tweeted the alert, but has since deleted it.
The false alarm came two days after Hawaii’s emergency management department sent a mistaken warning of a North Korean missile attack to mobile phones across the state, triggering panic for nearly 40 minutes.
However, the Japanese broadcaster alerted its viewers within five minutes that it had erroneously sent the warning message.
“We’re very sorry,” NHK said on its website, without explaining further.
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On Saturday, a state-wide emergency alert was activated in Hawaii just after 8 a.m. local time, sending a message to residents that said: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
Hawaii officials apologized repeatedly and said the alert was sent when someone hit the wrong button during a shift change. They vowed it would never happen again.
“We made a mistake,” said Hawaii Emergency Management Agency administrator Vern Miyagi.
Japan’s government has its own messaging system to alert residents of an incoming threat. The “J-Alert” system sends text messages to mobile phones and triggers sirens to warn of a possible missile strike.
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“Missile launch. Missile launch. North Korea appears to have fired a missile. Take refuge in a solid building or underground,” reads the mobile phone alert.
The satellite instant warning system is generally used by Japan’s meteorological agency to warn of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Japan’s cabinet secretariat uses the system to warn of “ballistic missile attack, aerial intrusion and a landing invasion.”
Last April, government officials in Tokyo admitted that if a missile launch is detected from North Korea, citizens in the targeted area would only get about a 10-minute warning to flee the impact zone, according to English language newspaper The Japan Times.
–with a file from Agence France Presse
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