The US Federal Communications Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency will be conducting a test of the nationwide alert system on October 4. This test will involve the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system for phones and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for TVs and radios. It is the seventh nationwide EAS test and the second test to include all cellular devices in the US.
The test will take place at around 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT on Wednesday, October 4. Cell towers will broadcast the emergency alert for 30 minutes during this time. If your phone is within range of a cell tower, you will receive a message stating: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The language of the alert will be based on your phone’s set language, either English or Spanish. The phone alerts will include a unique tone and vibration to make them accessible.
For TVs and radios, the emergency alert will last for 1 minute and will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”
In the event of severe weather or another emergency on October 4, the test will be postponed until October 11.
The emergency alerts sent during non-test situations can include public safety alerts, AMBER alerts during child-abduction crises, and presidential alerts during national emergencies. There are also alerts sent for imminent threats, such as extreme weather and natural disasters, active shooters, human-made disasters, blue alerts for attacks on law enforcement officers, and other threatening emergencies.
It is important to note that WEA messages are unaffected by network congestion.
