As you’ve probably heard by now, FEMA and the FCC are conducting a nationwide test of the Public Alert and Warning System in the United States tomorrow, October 4. This means that your iPhone will sound off with an emergency alert at around 2:20 p.m. ET/11:20 a.m. PT.
FEMA is required to conduct these national tests of the Public Alert and Warning System at least once every three years. The last national test was conducted back in 2021.
The quick facts about tomorrow’s national emergency alert test
- The alert will be sent on October 4 between 2:20 pm ET and 2:50 pm ET.
- The alert will be sent to every smartphone that is powered on and within range of a cellular tower.
- You can’t opt out of the test.
- The alert will cause your iPhone to vibrate and emit a sound similar to a siren.
- The notification message will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
- The alert will also appear on your Apple Watch.
More details
FEMA has the details of the test on its website. The goal is to ensure that the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and Emergency Alert System (EAS) are properly functioning in the United States. FEMA and the FCC want to make sure those systems “continue to be effective ways to warn the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level.”
The notification is sent to smartphones via the WEA system. FEMA outlines there are multiple types of alerts that could be sent in an emergency situation:
- Presidential Alerts are a special class of alerts only sent during a national emergency.
- Imminent Threat Alerts include natural or human-made disasters, extreme weather, active shooters, and other threatening emergencies that are current or emerging.
- Public Safety Alerts contain information about a threat that may not be imminent or after an imminent threat has occurred. Public safety alerts are less severe than imminent threat alerts.
- America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alerts are urgent bulletins issued in child-abduction cases. Rapid and effective public alerts often play a crucial role in returning a missing child safely. An AMBER Alert instantly enables the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.
Again, tomorrow’s alert is only a test, and the message that shows up on your iPhone will make it clear that it’s only a test. “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” the notification will read.
You’ll receive this alert on your iPhone, so long as it is powered on and within range of a participating wireless provider’s cell tower. The test will run for 30 minutes, but you should only receive the alert on your iPhone once.
The sound that plays from your iPhone will be “similar to an alarm,” according to Apple, and will also cause your iPhone and Apple Watch to vibrate. If you’ve ever received an AMBER alert or severe weather alert, tomorrow’s notification will be identical to that.
Can you opt out of the emergency alert national test?
While iOS offers an option in the Settings app to enable or disable government alerts, tomorrow’s alert will override that setting.
“Recent models of mobile phones may include a setting to opt out of tests and alerts. None of those settings will affect the 2023 national test. If your mobile phone is on and receiving service from a participating wireless provider, you should receive the national test,” FEMA says.
Notably, this is different than the national test conducted by FEMA in 2021, which allowed users to opt out of the test via their iPhone’s settings. FEMA does clarify that the national test will not interrupt a phone call.
The only way to not receive this emergency alert on your iPhone is to have the device completely powered off during the 30-minute window of the test. And there are some legitimate reasons as to why you might want to do this. “If anybody reading this has a second phone that you keep hidden from abusers, please turn that second phone off during the test so your abuser will not find out about it accidentally,” one user on Reddit explains.
In addition to the alert on your iPhone, FEMA will also broadcast the alert via radio and TV networks. These notifications are sent via the Emergency Alert System (EAS).
And before you even consider asking the question in the comments, you can ignore all of the crazy conspiracy theories that are already making the rounds on Twitter. No, this test has nothing to do with subjecting us all to 5G radiation. No, this test has nothing to do with any sort of vaccine. Just stop.
My colleague Arin described it best: “The world’s largest group chat.”
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