Wireless Emergency Alert Test Coming Feb. 25
The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) is a system that broadcasts public safety messages over the commercial cellular system. Customers with compatible smartphones can receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them to threats to safety in their area. All WEA alerts, regardless of type, behave the same. The device makes a distinctive notification sound and vibration and the message pops up in a text window on the screen. The WEA system is one of multiple methods that will be powered by the ShakeAlert® Earthquake Early Warning system.
On Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021 at 11 a.m. PST, the Washington Emergency Management Division and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will jointly send a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test message across many wireless devices in King, Pierce and Thurston Counties. You must OPT IN to receive the test. Read directions below to learn how to do this. If you don’t live in these counties, we’d invite you to opt in anyway so you will be ready when we do a larger test. This demonstration is a run-up to our launch later this year of an Earthquake Early Warning system in Washington state.
