OCTOBER 4th: National “Emergency Alert” Day

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On Wednesday at 11:20 am and 2:20 pm 2023, Eastern, most Americans will simultaneously feel their cellphones vibrate, hear them make a loud sound and see a push alert pop up on their screens. Most radio and television stations will broadcast an alert at the same time for about one minute.

It’s a test of the national emergency alert systems, which are designed to let the government reach hundreds of millions of people in the United States immediately if there is a disaster affecting the entire country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission are conducting the coordinated test to see if the technology is working as designed and if any improvements are needed.

The sound is a unique tone that probably will interrupt classes and meetings, reveal the locations of hidden phones, and jar anyone not expecting it. The test itself is already leading to baseless conspiracy theories about how the powerful communication tool could be abused.

There is no national emergency, no reason to panic and nothing you need to do about the alerts.

It is, as the text will say, just a test.

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