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Date Published: 26/10/2022

ARCHIVED - You will receive a text message about an Emergency Disaster Alert next week. This is why

ARCHIVED ARTICLE -

If your phone makes a loud beeping noise next Wednesday, don’t be alarmed – it’s just the new disaster system being tested

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - You will receive a text message about an Emergency Disaster Alert next week. This is why

Next Wednesday November 2, the Spanish emergency services will be sending out SMS text messages to (theoretically) anyone in the Murcia Region with a Spanish phone number warning them of an impending disaster or emergency situation.

These texts, which you will probably receive if you have a mobile phone number that begins +34 or 0034 (the Spanish country code), are part of the new Emergency and Disaster Alert System called ES-Alert that is being tested out in the whole of Spain.

Some time between 10am and 11am, your phone will make a loud and harsh siren noise and a message will pop up that says ‘PRUEBA PRUEBA’ (‘TEST TEST’ in Spanish). This will happen even if your phone is on silent or vibrate mode. All you have to do is click the button to accept that you have read the message. If you don’t confirm, the message will stay up there on your phone for about 5 minutes.

The idea is that in case of an emergency such as an earthquake, tsunami, serious flood or possibly even nuclear attack, people will be warned immediately via text message and receive instructions on what to do and how to keep safe. In Japan, this system is already widespread as a form of protection against the frequent earthquakes they have there. The initiative is being trialled in Spain in response to the growing number of extreme weather and geological events caused as a result of global warming.

This current text message that is being sent to almost everyone in Spain over the next few weeks is just a test, not a real disaster scenario, so don’t panic and do not call the police if you receive this message.

The test will be carried out in the entire Region of Murcia on November 2. However, in other parts of Spain that have already trialled the system, not everyone who was supposed to received a text message. Part of the reason for this is that any phone which has an Android operating system has the ability to receive such messages activated by default, but iPhones which use the iOS operating system have this option deactivated as the factory setting. If you want to receive this message, you will have to activate the alert system under the ‘Wireless emergency alerts’ section in your phone.

Don’t worry if you still don’t receive one after taking these steps. This is a trial only and they’ll work out the kinks in the system eventually.

Image: CARM / 112 Emergencias Región de Murcia

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