Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

KA ‘OIHANA PILI KAUA

Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency

 

Sirens on O‘ahu Sounded Early During Jan. 3, 2023 Test; County Officials are Reviewing Cause

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 3, 2023                                                                                      Release No. 2023-002

 

HONOLULU – The O‘ahu-based sirens that are part of the State of Hawaii’s All-Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning system sounded four minutes early, at 11:41 a.m. HST, for the regularly scheduled test on Jan. 3, 2023.

The sirens on all other islands sounded at the regularly scheduled test time, 11:45 a.m.  Residents and visitors on O‘ahu heard the sirens go off both early and for an unusually long time. There was no emergency.

Initial investigation by the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) found no source in our alert systems, nor action by our personnel, that caused the early activation.

The Department of Emergency Management with the City and County of Honolulu has announced that it is conducting its own review into the cause of the activation.

(An earlier version of this news release erroneously reported that sirens sounded twice on O‘ahu. Although sirens in the network did sound twice, at 11:41 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., those activations took place on different islands. This version has been corrected.)

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Contact:

Adam Weintraub
Communication Director

[email protected]
808-620-5417