Editing Emergency Alert System (section)

=== False alarms ===
* On February 20th, 1971, an [[National Emergency Message|Emergency Action Notification]] (now National Emergency Message) was accidentally sent out because the wrong message was played. This originally was supposed to be a simple test of the then-used [[Emergency Broadcast System]]. They announced that this was a false alarm. The amount of stations affected is not entirely known; however, recordings of [[WOWO|WOWO-AM]] and [[WCCO (AM)|WCCO-AM]] activating the EAN are available to be listened to online. The WOWO recording features the station playing standby music while they try to get more information, which would waste valuable time during an actual emergency, while in the WCCO recording, the station immediately realized the wrong tape had been played, and listeners were told to disregard; the recording also contains the usage of the terms "[[CONELRAD]] Advisory" (CONELRAD being the Emergency Broadcast System's predecessor), and "Emergency Alert System" (the term being used erroneously, as the actual EAS was still 26 years away).
* On April 21, 1997, several television and radio stations in [[Florida]], [[Hawaii]], [[Louisiana]], and [[Ohio]] mistakenly received a false Emergency Action Notification. Early indications pointed to a human error at the National Emergency Coordination Center in Virginia that routed a test requested by a relay for the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]] to test out one radio station's then-new EAS equipment as part of the EBS/EAS transition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC-Engineering/Radio-World-Modern/2000/Radio-World-2000-09-27.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523232943/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-BC-Engineering/Radio-World-Modern/2000/Radio-World-2000-09-27.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 23, 2023|title=When The Emergency Alert System Goes Wrong|accessdate=May 24, 2023}}</ref>  
* On February 1, 2005 in [[Connecticut]], an alert was [[2005 Connecticut false evacuation alert|mistakenly issued]] calling for the immediate evacuation of the entire state. The alert contained no specific detail on why it had been issued. The message was broadcast due to operator error while conducting an unannounced, but scheduled statewide test. A study conducted following the incident reported that at least 11% of residents actually saw the warning live, and that 63% of those surveyed were "a little or not at all concerned"—citing a suspicious lack of detail in the message, which a legitimate alert would include. Only 1% of those surveyed actually attempted to leave the state. [[Connecticut State Police]] did not receive any calls related to the incident.<ref name="courant-evac">{{cite news|last1=Pazinokas|first1=Mark|title=Connecticut Evacuation: False Alarm|url=https://www.courant.com/2005/02/02/connecticut-evacuation-false-alarm/|access-date=February 15, 2017|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|date=February 2, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215215406/http://articles.courant.com/2005-02-02/news/0502020861_1_evacuation-order-false-alarm-emergency-alert-system|archive-date=February 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ct-study">{{cite web|title=Public Reaction to the Erroneous Statewide Broadcast of February 1st, 2005|url=https://www2.gwu.edu/~icdrm/publications/CT%20Emergency%20Broadcast%20Final%20Report.pdf|website=[[George Washington University]]|publisher=Center for Survey Research and Analysis|access-date=February 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614214104/http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eicdrm/publications/CT%20Emergency%20Broadcast%20Final%20Report.pdf|archive-date=June 14, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=False Alarm, Connecticut Not Being Evacuated | url=http://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v2_5/comments/false_alarm_connecticut_not_being_evacuated/ | publisher=WestportNow.com | date=February 1, 2005 | quote=State police said they received no calls related to the erroneous alert. | access-date=June 5, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402222723/https://westportnow.com/index.php?%2Fv2_5%2Fcomments%2Ffalse_alarm_connecticut_not_being_evacuated%2F | archive-date=April 2, 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref>
* On June 26, 2007 at 7:35&nbsp;a.m. [[Central Time Zone|CDT]], an [[Emergency Action Notification]] was accidentally issued in [[Illinois]], when a new satellite receiver at the state's EOC was accidentally connected to a live system before final internal testing of the new delivery path had been completed. The alert was followed by [[dead air]], and then audio from designated station [[WGN (AM)|720 WGN]] in Chicago being simulcast across almost every television and radio station in the Chicago area and throughout much of Illinois. A confused [[Spike O'Dell]], host of the station's morning show at the time, was heard on-air wondering "what that beeping was all about".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Emergency.Alert.System.2.337932.html |title=Emergency Alert System Activated By Mistake |website=cbs2chicago.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080806205146/http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Emergency.Alert.System.2.337932.html |archive-date=August 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Inadvertent Activation of the Illinois Emergency Alert System |url=http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/eas.shtm |publisher=FEMA |date=June 28, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717212239/http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/eas.shtm |archive-date=July 17, 2007  }}</ref>
* On May 19, 2010, [[NOAA Weather Radio]] and [[United States Army Chemical Materials Activity|CSEPP]] tone alert radios in the [[Hermiston, Oregon]] area, near the [[Umatilla Chemical Depot]], were activated with an EAS alert shortly after 5 p.m. The message transmitted was for a [[severe thunderstorm warning]], issued by the National Weather Service in [[Pendleton, Oregon|Pendleton]], but the transmission broadcast instead was a long period of silence, followed by a few words in Spanish. [[Umatilla County, Oregon|Umatilla County]] Emergency Management has stressed there was no emergency at the depot.<ref>{{cite news | agency=Associated Press | url=http://heraldnet.com/article/20100520/NEWS03/705209858 | location=Everett, Washington | title=Glitch scrambles Oregon thunderstorm warning | work=The Herald | date=May 20, 2010 | access-date=June 1, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712180746/http://heraldnet.com/article/20100520/NEWS03/705209858 | archive-date=July 12, 2010 | url-status=live }}</ref>
* On September 3, 2016, in the wake of [[Hurricane Hermine|Tropical Storm Hermine]], an alert was displayed on television calling for the immediate evacuation of the entirety of [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]], abruptly ending with the incomplete sentence "This is an emergency message from". About 15 minutes after the original message was sent, the alert was re-issued with an addendum clarifying that the alert was actually calling for a voluntary evacuation of [[Fire Island]]—a [[barrier island]] of [[Long Island]]. Officials cited an error in the county's Code Red system; while the correct message was entered into the system, an error processing an abbreviated message for television resulted in the error.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Evacuation-Alert-for-Suffolk-County-Mistakenly-Given-Administrator-392266541.html|title=Evacuation Alert for Suffolk County Mistakenly Given|work=NBC New York|access-date=November 27, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128075155/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Evacuation-Alert-for-Suffolk-County-Mistakenly-Given-Administrator-392266541.html|archive-date=November 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/suffolk-automated-system-caused-false-evacuation-alert-for-hermine-1.12269519|title=Officials: Automated system caused false alert for Hermine|website=Newsday|date=September 6, 2016 |language=en|access-date=January 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129061924/https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/suffolk-automated-system-caused-false-evacuation-alert-for-hermine-1.12269519|archive-date=January 29, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
* On May 23, 2017, at around 8:55&nbsp;p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]], a Nuclear Power Plant Warning was issued for the [[Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant|Hope Creek]] and [[Salem Nuclear Power Plant|Salem]] Nuclear Power Plants. The alert was issued for [[Salem County, New Jersey|Salem]] and [[Cumberland County, New Jersey|Cumberland]] counties in New Jersey. In a statement by the New Jersey State Police, it was a test message, intended for a small group of emergency management personnel who were participating in the test. Due to a coding error, the message was publicly broadcast. This would happen again in July 2022.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Gray |title=False nuclear power plant warning worried NJ residents |url=https://6abc.com/new-jersey-news-nuclear-power-plant-warning-emergency-alert-system-salem-hope-creek/2031983/ |access-date=March 25, 2023 |work=[[WPVI-TV|6ABC Action News]]|date=May 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326002445/https://6abc.com/new-jersey-news-nuclear-power-plant-warning-emergency-alert-system-salem-hope-creek/2031983/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* On August 15, 2017 at approximately 12:25&nbsp;a.m. [[Chamorro Time Zone|ChST]], [[Guam]] stations [[KTWG]] and [[KSTO]] transmitted a civil danger warning for the island; Guam Homeland Security described the message, which interrupted programming on the stations, and was received on television by some viewers, as being an "unauthorized test" of the EAS. The incident's impact was strengthened, as [[North Korea]] had threatened the launch of ballistic missiles towards Guam only a few days beforehand. Numerous calls to 911 operators and the [[Department of Homeland Security]] were made following the broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/15/asia/guam-accidental-warning-trnd/index.html|title=Guam radio stations freak out island with emergency alert|last=Criss|first=Doug|work=CNN|access-date=January 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921022833/http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/15/asia/guam-accidental-warning-trnd/index.html|archive-date=September 21, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/guam-radio-stations-accidental-emergency-alert-north-korea-threat|title=Guam radio stations accidentally air emergency alert amid North Korea threat|last=Haas|first=Benjamin|date=August 15, 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=January 14, 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115001257/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/guam-radio-stations-accidental-emergency-alert-north-korea-threat|archive-date=January 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:2018 Hawaii missile alert (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|On January 13, 2018, a [[2018 Hawaii false missile alert|false alarm]] was issued warning of a missile threat to Hawaii.]]
* On January 13, 2018 at approximately 8:07&nbsp;a.m. [[Hawaii–Aleutian Time Zone|HST]], the [[Hawaii Emergency Management Agency]] (HI-EMA) mistakenly [[2018 Hawaii false missile alert|issued an emergency alert warning of a ballistic missile inbound threatening the region]], which was claimed to be not a drill. 38 minutes later, it was announced by HI-EMA and the [[Honolulu Police Department]] that the alert was a false alarm.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/01/13/breaking-news/emergency-officials-mistakenly-send-out-missile-threat-alert/|title=Emergency officials mistakenly send out missile threat alert|date=January 13, 2018|work=Honolulu Star-Advertiser|access-date=January 13, 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113192642/http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/01/13/breaking-news/emergency-officials-mistakenly-send-out-missile-threat-alert/|archive-date=January 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-missile-alert-today-emergency-management-system-incoming-ballistic-missile-warning-error/|title=Hawaii missile alert: False alarm warns residents of "ballistic missile threat"|access-date=November 27, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113231732/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-missile-alert-today-emergency-management-system-incoming-ballistic-missile-warning-error/|archive-date=January 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The incident came amidst heightened concern over the possibility that Hawaii could be targeted by North Korean missiles (in December 2017, Hawaii tested its missile sirens for the first time since the [[Cold War]]).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42677604|title=Hawaii sends out missile alert by mistake|date=2018|work=BBC News|access-date=January 13, 2018|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724172855/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42677604|archive-date=July 24, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> HI-EMA administrator [[Vern Miyagi]] stated that the incident was a "mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift".<ref name="fox011318">{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/hawaiis-false-missile-threat-worker-feels-terrible-after-pushing-the-wrong-button|work=Fox News|title=Hawaii's scary false missile threat: Worker's push of the 'wrong button' to blame|first1=Nicole|last1=Darrah|first2=Kathleen|last2=Joyce|date=January 13, 2018|access-date=January 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114003504/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/13/hawaiis-scary-false-missile-threat-workers-push-wrong-button-to-blame.html|archive-date=January 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
* On August 31, 2022, amid [[2022 California wildfires|wildfires]], an immediate evacuation notice was mistakenly issued by the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management for Los Angeles, the Eastern North Pacific Ocean, and Port Conception to Guadalupe; the alert text repeatedly listed "Eastern North Pacific Ocean" or "Eastern North Pacific" twelve different times. The [[Ventura County Sheriff's Office]] stated that the alert had been issued in error.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ladden-Hall |first=Dan |date=2022-09-01 |title=Los Angeles Evacuation Order Broadcast on TV in Error |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/los-angeles-evacuation-order-broadcast-on-tv-was-made-in-error |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=The Daily Beast |language=en |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906004857/https://www.thedailybeast.com/los-angeles-evacuation-order-broadcast-on-tv-was-made-in-error |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-01 |title=Evacuation notice broadcast countywide made 'in error' |url=https://signalscv.com/2022/09/evacuation-notice-broadcast-countywide-made-in-error/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=Santa Clarita Valley Signal |language=en-US |archive-date=September 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906004901/https://signalscv.com/2022/09/evacuation-notice-broadcast-countywide-made-in-error/ |url-status=live }}</ref>