WASHINGTON, DC. — On Wednesday, your cell phone and that of many others around you will get a text around 2:20. It’s from the FCC, and it’s only a test. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the FCC, will conduct nationwide tests of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) October 4, 2023, at approximately 2:20 pm EDT, with a back-up test date of October 11, 2023.
According to the announcement from the FCC, “FEMA will initiate the test of WEA at 2:18 pm EDT on October 4, 2023, using the National Alert classification of Alert Message. The test will be sent to the entire United States and its territories. Members of the public with mobile device service from a CMS provider that participates in WEA in their areas will receive the test message, which will read ‘THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.’ The WEA alert will be transmitted in both English and Spanish in both 90 and 360 character sets. All wireless providers that have elected to participate in WEA.”
The alerts must comply with the FCC’s accessibility requirements.
More information here.