The siren that went off Friday afternoon at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant resulted from an accidental activation, authorities said.

A spokesman for Duke Energy, which owns the plant in New Hill, N.C. in southern Wake County, said the energy company is investigating what prompted the alarm to sound shortly before 1 p.m. The siren prompted a flurry of calls to WRAL News and posts on social media.

"This afternoon several sirens around the Harris Nuclear Plant malfunctioned, specifically near Apex and Cary," spokesman Brandon Thomas said in a written statement. "There is no impact to the public and no need for public actions."

The Apex Police Department tweeted around 1:15 p.m. that Wake County Emergency Management confirmed that the siren's alarm system went off in error and there were no issues at the plant.

Sharon Harris is working to resolve the issue with the sirens. Please be patient. We will share more information when we have it. — Apex Police Dept. (@ApexPolice) January 19, 2018

Officials at Wake County posted a statement on Facebook saying the alarms were tripped in error.

"We have confirmed with Emergency Management staff that the sirens going off at the Harris Nuclear Plant this afternoon are a false alarm," the statement said. "Please refer to Duke Energy for more details and information."

Authorities said had there been a real emergency at the plant, local emergency response officials would have provided information for the public on how to respond.

Several people on social media criticized Duke Energy for taking too long to provide information about the mishap.

@DukeEnergy customer service line was absolutely unaware of the issue and more worried about my billing address than a possible disaster; initial person wouldn't talk to me without knowing where I lived instead of listening to what I was saying #sodisappointing — Ashley Langley (@ncknitty) January 19, 2018

The alarms at the Wake County nuclear power plant came almost a week after an accidental text message from Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency to Hawaiian residents and vacationers prompted them to prepare for an incoming ballistic missile on Saturday.

The agency corrected the false alarm message about 38 minutes later.

We're told the sirens that went off at the Harris Nuclear Plant are a false alarm. Please follow @DukeEnergy for more information. — Wake County, NC (@WakeGOV) January 19, 2018