Nationwide Emergency Alert Testing Scheduled for Wednesday
FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on Wednesday, October 3.
The WEA test will begin at 2:18 PM. Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, cell phones that are switched on and within range of an active cell tower should be capable of receiving the test message. Cell phones should receive the message once. The WEA test message will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The EAS portion follows at 2:20 PM and will last approximately one minute. The test is made available to EAS participants including radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers, and wireline video providers.
Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) supports more than 1,000 state, local, tribal, territorial and federal users through a standardized message format. IPAWS enables public safety alerting authorities such as emergency managers, police, and fire departments to send the same alert and warning message over multiple communication pathways at the same time to citizens in harm’s way, helping to save lives.
For more information on FEMA’s IPAWS, go to: www.fema.gov/ipaws. For more preparedness information, go to www.ready.gov.