'This Is Only a Test': Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System Takes Place Wednesday

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System at 1 p.m. CST today (Wednesday, Nov. 9).

The Emergency Alert System is an alert and warning system that can be activated by the president, if needed, to provide information to the American public during emergencies.

Wednesday’s test will interrupt radio and network and cable TV broadcasts for about 30 seconds within the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories. Similar to local emergency alert system tests, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming indicating: “This is a test.”

After the test, regular broadcasts will resume.

The test was originally set for three minutes, but was scaled back to 30 seconds.

Other federal agencies participating in the test include the Federal Communications Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

recommended in a release that people use the test as a reminder to "establish an emergency preparedness kit and emergency plan for themselves, their families, communities, and businesses." 

President Harry S Truman enacted the first nationwide alert system during the Cold War in 1951. The CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) eventually replaced by the national Emergency Broadcast System from 1963 through 1988. Many Americans in the 1960s and 1970s recall an ominous black-and-white test pattern followed by a high-pitched tone and served as a grim reminder of the threat of nuclear war.

On Feb. 20, 1971 the Emergency Broadcast System was inadvertently activated by a Teletype operator who played the wrong tape, sending the codeword “hatefulness” through the entire system, which ordered TV and radio stations to cease regular programming.

The antiquated EBS system was retired in 1988 and replaced by the state-of-the-art Emergency Alert System.

Although used to broadcast warnings and instructions for weather emergencies, the Emergency Alert System has never been activated for a civil defense threat, including Sept. 11, 2001.

Visit FEMA for more information about Wednesday's nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System.