(WFLA) – Just days after a ballistic missile alert was accidentally sent to residents in Hawaii, a Japanese broadcaster is apologizing for making a similar mistake.
Japanese broadcaster NHK posted the following apology on its website Tuesday about an alert warning about missiles launched in North Korea that were headed toward Japan. The alert was a mistake.
The NHK website is published in Japanese. The translated post that apologizes for the mistake says:
“The breaking news that “North Korea missile launch pattern” is wrong
January 16 20:16
About 6:55 pm on the 16th We reported a preliminary report on NHK’s news site and NHK’s “news and disaster prevention application”, “Pattern of North Korean missile launch”, but this was a mistake.
There is no fact that the fact that missiles were launched from North Korea and the government issued information on J Alert = National Instantaneous Warning System to call for evacuation. This was a misoperation operated device that delivers breaking information on the net. I was very sorry.”
News of the NHK mistake quickly spread on Twitter and had NBC News and other journalists tweeting about the mistake.
On Saturday, a worker at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency accidentally sent an emergency alert about an incoming missile which was sent to cellphones statewide just before 8:10 a.m.
The alert said: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
The alert sent residents into a panic with people abandoning cars in a highway and preparing to flee their homes until officials said the cellphone alert was a mistake.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi said the error happened when someone hit the wrong button. “We made a mistake,” said Miyagi.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW:
