Hawaii Police Training Leads to Errant Activation of Tsunami Alarms

A police training exercise led to the Tsunami sirens on the islands of Oahu and Maui activating, sparking a brief panic among residents.

According to the Honolulu Star-Register , after the alarms were sounded in the early evening on Wednesday, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said on Twitter, "Mistaken siren sounding by Honolulu Police Department. NO EMERGENCY at this time."

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said on Twitter, "The city's @Oahu_DEM is aware of a siren sounding in the Kakaako area at about 510pm this evening and is investigating. THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ALARMED. REPEAT... NO CAUSE FOR ALARM."

Caldwell said further, "Mahalo to everyone for taking appropriate action & tuning into local media when the sirens were inadvertently triggered earlier this evening during HPD training. HPD and emergency officials are conducting a thorough investigation."