Heads up: The US Federal Communications Commission and Federal Emergency Management Agency are joining forces to conduct a nationwide test of the emergency alert systems 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 will be the seventh nationwide EAS test and the second test to include all cellular devices in the US.
During the test, which will take place at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT, cell towers will broadcast the emergency alert for 30 minutes. 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 depend on your phone’s set language, either English or Spanish. To ensure accessibility, the phone alerts will be accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.
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.
In non-test situations, the WEA and EAS systems can send various types of alerts. These include public safety alerts, AMBER alerts during child-abduction crises, and presidential alerts during national emergencies. There are also alerts 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.
