WASHINGTON – Two federal agencies will conduct a nationwide test of two emergency systems on Wednesday, October 4.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plan to conduct a nationwide test of both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on Wednesday 2:20 PM.
The test process will roll out in two phases. All consumer cell phones will receive the WEA test while the EAS test will be transmitted to radios and televisions. The test will be the third WEA nationwide trial, the second involving all cellular devices. The message will appear either in English or Spanish, depending on handset settings. The EAS test is the seventh nationwide.
A core objective of the Oct. 4 evaluation is to verify the efficiency of the system to alert the populace during national emergencies. If an event, widespread severe weather, forces the event to be postponed, the fallback date is Oct. 11.
Anticipated to last about 30 minutes post the 2:20 p.m. ET commencement, cell towers will broadcast the WEA test. Compatible mobile phones, when powered on and within the vicinity of an active tower, are expected to display the message:
Compatible phones set to display English and powered on within the range of an active tower will display the following message:
“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
Devices set for Spanish will display:
“ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.”
The EAS test message will be around one minute across various media outlets. The message will be similar to prior monthly EAS messages::
“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.”
