Do Not Be Alarmed (even if your cell phone is)
This is only a test! If it were a real emergency we would be running around in large circles:
At 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the federal government will be testing two emergency alert systems on televisions, radios and certain cell phones across the country.
The Emergency Alert System, or EAS, test will be sent to TVs and radios. The Wireless Emergency Alert, or WEA, test will go to cellular consumers who have opted in to receive test messages, which will display in either English or Spanish depending on their phone's settings.
"The test is intended to ensure public safety officials have the methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public in times of an emergency or disaster," according to a press release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is working in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
