FEMA, FCC conducted smartphone Wireless Emergency Alert test on Wednesday

The second nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert was conducted on Aug. 11 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern on smartphones that have opted in.

The test was conducted to ensure that the Wireless Emergency Alert and Emergency Alert System effectively warn the public. The Wireless Emergency Alert appeared on smartphones that opted in.

In order to opt into future tests, iPhone users can dial a specific sequence of numbers in the Phone app. Dial *5005*25371# to enable test notifications. Dial *5005*25370# to disable test notifications.

Android users can toggle emergency test systems from the Settings app.

Smartphone users who opted in to testing the Wireless Emergency Alert received one test message at around 2:20 p.m. ET. The message was sent using the FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.

Devices received the alert via local cell towers. The test signal was be broadcast for 30 minutes and caused a message to display, reading: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

12 Comments

weyland_jon 9 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

Didn’t happen here.

ziggie 5 comments · 7 Years

weyland_jon said:

Didn’t happen here.

In case the Aug. 11 test is canceled due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, a back-up testing date is scheduled for Aug. 25.

AppleZulu 2159 comments · 8 Years

Nothing here, either.

Is it just me, or was the text of this article changed significantly from earlier when it was a future-tense proposition?

Seems like there was generic language about going to settings to opt out if you want, but none of this: "In order to opt into future tests, iPhone users can dial a specific sequence of numbers in the Phone app. Dial *5005*25371# to enable test notifications. Dial *5005*25370# to disable test notifications."

The earlier version read as though this was going to be a test reaching nearly every phone out there that had not opted out and turned off emergency alerts in notifications. Now, it's describing a test that you have to actively opt in to receive, and doing so is not accomplished in your phone's settings menu.

I appreciate that articles get updated with new information, but I thought the practice here was to tag such a headline with [u] to indicate it's been revised. Not that it matters, but the significant change in the article's text leaves those of us who commented (on the original article) that we didn't receive the test message looking like we didn't read the opt-in instructions correctly. Seeing as how the instructions were entirely replaced, that's not an accurate impression. I'm just saying.

AniMill 191 comments · 4 Years

Oh, the irony…