News
Kate Plummer
Aug 29, 2023
On October 4th, everyone in the US will get an emergency alert on their wireless devices.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) across every American device, including TVs, radios, and mobile phones.
The nationwide alert is scheduled for approximately 2:20 p.m. ET and will last around 30 minutes, and it is just to see if the alerts are working properly in case they are needed in a national disaster or attack.
The message that cell phones will receive will be similar to this: “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.” It will also make a loud noise.
The EAS was established in 1997 to enable the FEMA President to address the entire country within 10 minutes of a national emergency.
Its origins trace back to 1951 when the Control of Electromagnetic Radiation, or CONELRAD, created an alert system for radio broadcasts to warn Americans about a potential Soviet nuclear explosion. But they moved from radios as missiles could potentially intercept radio waves before alerts could be sent.
Meanwhile, it follows similar testing in the UK in April this year, which had mixed success.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)