You may have received an unusual alert on your phone this week that you weren't expecting. But there's no need to panic.
The unexpected notification you saw wasn't a malfunction or another odd error. It was part of a nationwide emergency alert test carried out every three years across the United States.
The alarm, which tests cell phones, wireless devices, radios, and TVs, is mandated under federal law to test the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. Coordinated by the Federal Communications Commission, FEMA was scheduled to conduct the test at approximately 2.20 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
FEMA states on its website that the test was engineered to "reach millions of mobile phones across the country via Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), radio and television via the Emergency Alert System (EAS), and other communication pathways."
A separate backup testing date has also been scheduled for October 11, 2023.
All major U.S. wireless providers participated in the test. Provided that your phone was on and within range of an active cell tower from a participating provider, you should have received an alert.
The emergency alert messages that make up the test consist of two groups—the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for radios and televisions, and the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) for wireless phones—which are both scheduled to happen at the same time.
The national test is conducted to help ensure that WEA and the EAS continue to be effective ways to warn the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level.
A centralized internet-based system used by FEMA allows authorities to send the emergency messages to the public. The WEA test will be administered via a code sent to cell phones as phones should only receive the message once.
The test is broadcast from cell towers for around 30 minutes. The message should have read: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed." For phones set to Spanish, the message was: "ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción."
The EAS test, which is sent to radios and TVs, only lasts one minute interrupting programming and broadcasting the message: "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."
The alerts sent on Wednesday marked the seventh nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. The six previous tests were conducted between November 2011 and August 2021. It is the third nationwide test of wireless alerts and the second nationwide test transmitted to all cell phones.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
