America's National Emergency Alert Test is TODAY (10/4)

Today is the US government’s emergency alert drill, which will send a test message to every TV, radio and cell phone in the nation.

Starting at approximately 2:20pm ET, the federal government will begin conducting a nationwide test of its Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The EAS portion of the test will send an emergency alert to all radios and televisions, while the WEA portion of the drill will send an alert to all consumer cell phones.  The completion of the test nationwide may take several minutes so an alert may not be received at exactly 2:20pm

The test is being conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in coordination with the Federal Communication Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that the systems in place continue to be an effective means of warning the public about emergencies at a national level.  No action is required -- this is just a test.