Officials: Pre-Dawn Huntington Beach Tsunami Alerts, Sirens Were False Alarm
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA) — Police say the tsunami alerts and siren that went off in the early morning hours Friday in Huntington Beach were a false alarm, and officials are working to figure out how and why that happened.
At about 4:20 a.m., the tsunami alerts and sirens were activated in Huntington Beach, but fire officials were quick to reassure residents that there was no current threat to the community.
Many of you may have heard the civil defense sirens sound this evening. There is no current threat to our community and we are working to determine exactly how/why the sirens were activated.
— Huntington Beach Fire Department (@HBFD_PIO) February 7, 2020
The tsunami alarm this morning was a false alarm. The city is looking to see what caused the activation. https://t.co/fyup0opWiR
— Huntington Beach PD (@HBPoliceDept) February 7, 2020
Huntington Beach police spokeswoman Angela Bennett later told CBS2 that a system error caused the false alarm. The alarm was scheduled to go off as a test at 12 p.m. Friday. Officials are unsure why the alarm went off at 4:20 a.m. instead.
The system is being taken offline and will not go off at noon Friday while officials work to determine what caused the false alarm.
Many residents posted to social media about being jolted from their beds.
The air raid siren is blaring right now in #HuntingtonBeach! What the hell is going in? It's 4 am!
— Judi (@JudiMantere) February 7, 2020
Well someone in Huntington Beach CA forgot to change the time for the Tsunami warning test. What a wakeup call at 4am. I know what it sounds like now.
— John San (@axsanb64) February 7, 2020
Huntington Beach alert!!!
— Natalia M. Aronna (@ciotalia) February 7, 2020
Nice way to wake up!!! My heart it's still jumping
A tsunami warning recently went off in our city. #huntingtonbeach #tsunamialert
Huntington Beach just "ACCIDENTALLY" set off a tsunami siren at 4 AM. I guess I'll start my day now since I thought I was about to die there is no going back to sleep!! ????????
— Hayley ???? (@hayleybicycle) February 7, 2020
Residents were urged to sign up for ALERT OC, which is Orange County's mass wireless emergency notification system.