Two radio stations in Guam accidentally broadcasted a civil danger warning in the middle of the night Tuesday, causing concern as North Korea raises the possibility of strikes on the U.S. territory in the Pacific.
The message said: “A broadcast station or cable system has issued a civil danger warning for the following counties/areas: Guam, at 12:25 A.M. on August 15, 2017, effective until 12:40 A.M.”
While most warnings include information about the type of threat and recommended courses of action, a civil danger warning is an unusual alert signaling a threat to a massive civilian population, such as a military attack on the island, according to BNO News.
Many local residents called the police after hearing the warnings over the radio.
“The unauthorized test was NOT connected to any emergency, threat or warning,” Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense said in a statement. Authorities are working with the radio stations “to ensure the human error will not occur again.”
Guam has been increasingly in the news lately as North Korea announced last week it has a plan to launch a salvo of four intermediate-range ballistic missiles into waters around the Pacific territory to demonstrate that the North has the ability to surround the island with “enveloping fire.”
The North intended the launch to be a display of force for President Donald Trump, who warned last week that North Korean threats will be met with “fire and fury like nothing the world has ever seen.”
Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned Monday that if North Korea attacks U.S. territory, it’s “game on.” He stressed that if North Korea launched missiles at Guam, the U.S. military will “take it out.”
North Korea has decided to postpone its planned attack, appearing to de-escalate the current crisis, which many observers feared might lead to a nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. But, for the people of Guam, who may have seen earlier reports of missile launcher movements in North Korea, the midnight civil danger warning unquestionably caused a certain degree of alarm, especially given that the local government recently issued a guide for a North Korean nuclear strike.
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