Mass test alert being sent to phones, TVs and radios Wednesday afternoon
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday will be conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System and the Wireless Emergency Alerts.
Two tests will be taking place that will test WEA and EAS capabilities, and they are scheduled to begin at 2:20 p.m.
The WEA portion will be sent to all consumer cellphones. This is the third nationwide test, but second to test all cellphones, FEMA says. The test will be in English or in Spanish, which depends on the phone’s language settings.
The message on the phones will read “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The EAS portion will be sent to radios and televisions, the seventh nationwide EAS test. It is scheduled to last around one minute and will be done with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio, and television providers and wireline video providers.