Officials at Hawaii tsunami center say fake alert circulated

Posted on May 24 2019

HONOLULU (AP)—Officials at a tsunami monitoring center in Hawaii say a fake threat was circulated about an earthquake in Japan and subsequent tidal wave.

News outlets reported Tuesday that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Oahu said there is no tsunami threat in the Pacific after a “fabricated message was circulated.”

Officials say the bogus message went out after 4 p.m. on a global telecommunications system used by the World Meteorological Organization based in Switzerland.

The message said a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred in Japan near Nagasaki, although the coordinates given were not accurate.

Authorities say clues the message was bogus included misspellings the inclusion of only a few parts of what would normally be sent.

Officials say the National Weather Service will investigate.

Associated Press

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