In about a month, a massive nationwide test of the emergency alert system (EAS) will be carried out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
It will likely blare out the familiar electronic warning sound. The alert will also state via cellphones: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” A Spanish-language version of the alert will also be used.
“All wireless phones should receive the message only once,” the bulletin said. “The following can be expected from the nationwide WEA test: Beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell towers will broadcast the test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.”
On a TV or radio, October’s alert will last approximately a minute. An alert sound will blare, and then it feature the “familiar” 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,” according to the agencies.
The agencies said that if the Oct. 4 test is postponed due to a significant event or a weather emergency, the EAS testing date will be pushed back to Oct. 11.
Other Details
The test alert scheduled for October isn’t the first time it has been deployed. On Aug. 11, 2021, FEMA and the FCC carried out what they said was the sixth nationwide test of the EAS. Prior tests were conducted in 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, according to FEMA.“The EAS national test in 2021 was very similar to regular monthly tests typically originated by state authorities. During the test, radios and televisions across the country interrupted normal programming to play the EAS test message in English or Spanish,” it said. “The EAS test message lasted approximately one minute long and the audio said.”
FEMA said that the purpose of the 2021 test was to see whether it was effective to send out and receive a national message via television and radio.
That 2011 test EAS message had considerably more text than the one now.
“This is a test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test. The message you are hearing is part of a nationwide live code test of Emergency Alert System capabilities. This test message has been initiated by national alert and warning authorities,” it said. “In coordination with Emergency Alert System participants, including broadcast, cable, satellite, and wire line participants in your area. Had this been an actual emergency, the attention signal you just heard would have been followed by emergency information, news, or instructions. This is only a test. We now return you to regular programming.”
The first U.S. emergency broadcasting system was created in 1951 as a way for the federal government to use radios to warn Americans about an enemy attack amid the Cold War. The system was expanded as fears began to grow of a Soviet nuclear attack during the subsequent decades.
There have, however, been false alarms over the years. Notably, a false alert was sent out in 2018 in Hawaii when the state’s Emergency Management System erroneously warned that a ballistic missile attack on the islands was imminent.
It said: “Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound To Hawaii. Seek Immediate Shelter. This Is Not A Drill.” Officials took about 30 minutes to clarify that the message was sent out in error.
In 2022, during wildfires in California, an immediate evacuation notice was sent by the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management for Los Angeles, the Eastern North Pacific Ocean, and Port Conception to Guadalupe. The text listed “Eastern North Pacific Ocean” or “Eastern North Pacific” twelve different times before the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said it was an error.
