Erroneous tsunami warnings received across the East Coast

 

People in parts of Virginia and other states received a test message as an actual “ Tsunami Warning,” but the message was just a test. (OINEGUE/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO)

A tsunami warning went out Tuesday morning to parts of the East Coast without being identified as a test, the National Weather Service said.

The alert chimed on cell phones from Maine to the Florida Gulf Coast around 8:32 a.m.

IT looked like the real deal, a message indicated there was a “Tsunami Warning” issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But the text was meant to be test message.

AccuWeather, a popular app that transmitted the message, tweeted that there was no threat to the East Coast and clarified that it was just a test.

An Accuweather alert was sent on February 6, 2018, but was later revealed to be a test.

“A Tsunami Test was conducted earlier this morning, that did have TEST in the message. We are currently trying to find out how a message went out as a warning. We will update you when we find out more,” the National Weather Service’s New York account tweeted.

The mistake comes less than a month after a false missile alarm set off panic in Hawaii.

A worker with the state’s Emergency Management Agency thought that a missile drill was a genuine attack and sent out the warning.

- ny news