A false alarm about a North Korean missile launch was sent out by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK today, just a few days after a false alarm was sent to residents in Hawaii. An alert reading “It appears that North Korea has launched a missile,” was pushed to cell phones in Japan just before 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday (5 a.m. EST). The alert was not released on TV channels, according to reports.
Within five minutes, the alert was deleted and NHK issued an apology on its website. It took U.S. authorities thirty-eight minutes to issue an all-clear on Saturday when a similar error took place.
An alert warning individuals in Hawaii to immediately take shelter due to an inbound ballistic missile threat sent thousands of residents and tourists running for shelter. “THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the warning read. Authorities have since determined that it was human error that contributed to the false alarm and the employee responsible has been reassigned.