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Story by Matthew Giffin
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will send an alert to all consumer cell phones in the U.S. on Oct. 4 to test its Wireless Emergency Alert System.
All consumer cell phones will receive the test notification with the message, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” according to a release from FEMA. Phone users will receive the message in Spanish if their device is set to display that language.
Cell towers will broadcast the message at 2:20 p.m. EST for a duration of about 30 minutes, according to FEMA. The alert can be switched off with one button push like an AMBER Alert, and phones should only receive the message once.
Phones that are turned off for the duration of the broadcast should not receive the message. However, if the device is powered on, phone users cannot block the alert, according to the FCC.
This will be the WEA’s third-ever nationwide test, but this is only the second time it has used all cell phones. The first nationwide test of the system to utilize cell phones was Aug. 11, 2021.
In addition, the Emergency Alert System will conduct a similar test on U.S. radios and televisions, similar to the regular emergency test messages that the EAS has broadcast in the past, according to FEMA.
In the event that the test is postponed, the test will occur on Oct. 11.
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