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Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite and broadcast television and AM, FM and satellite radio. Informally, Emergency Alert System is sometimes conflated with its mobile phone counterpart Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), a different but related system. However, both the EAS and WEA, among other systems, are coordinated under the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).
The EAS, and more broadly IPAWS, allows federal, state, and local authorities to efficiently broadcast emergency alert and warning messages across multiple channels. The EAS became operational on January 1, 1997, after being approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1994, replacing the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), and largely supplanted the similar Emergency Override System (also known as "Local Access Alert" systems), though the latter is still used from time to time. Its main improvement over the EBS, and perhaps its most distinctive feature, is its application of a digitally encoded audio signal known as Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME), which is responsible for the “screeching” or “beeping” sounds at the start and end of each message. The first signal is the "header" which encodes, among other information, the alert type and locations, or the specific area that should receive the message. The last short burst marks the end-of-message. These signals are read by specialized encoder-decoder equipment. This design allows for automated station-to-station relay of alerts to only the area the alert was intended for.
Like the Emergency Broadcast System, the system is primarily designed to allow the president of the United States to address the country via all radio and television stations in the event of a national emergency. Despite this, neither the system nor its predecessors have been used in this manner. The ubiquity of news coverage in these situations, such as during the September 11 attacks, has been credited to making usage of the system unnecessary or redundant. In practice, it is used at a regional scale to distribute information regarding imminent threats to public safety, such as severe weather situations (including flash floods and tornadoes), Amber alerts, and other civil emergencies.
It is jointly coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EAS regulations and standards are governed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC. All broadcast television, broadcast and satellite radio stations, as well as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), are required to participate in the system.
Messages in the EAS are composed of four parts: a digitally encoded Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) header, an attention signal, an audio announcement, and a digitally encoded end-of-message marker.
The ⓘ is the most critical part of the EAS design. It contains information about who originated the alert (the president, state or local authorities, the National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS), or the broadcaster), a short, general description of the event (tornado, flood, severe thunderstorm), the areas affected (up to 32 counties or states), the expected duration of the event (in minutes), the date and time it was issued (in UTC), and an identification of the originating station.
There are 79 radio stations designated as National Primary Stations in the Primary Entry Point (PEP) System to distribute presidential messages to other broadcast stations and cable systems.
The National Emergency Message (formerly known as the Emergency Action Notification) is the notice to broadcasters that the president of the United States or their designee will deliver a message over the EAS via the PEP system. The government has stated that the system would allow a president to speak during a national emergency within 10 minutes.
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Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite and broadcast television and AM, FM and satellite radio. Informally, Emergency Alert System is sometimes conflated with its mobile phone counterpart Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), a different but related system. However, both the EAS and WEA, among other systems, are coordinated under the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).
The EAS, and more broadly IPAWS, allows federal, state, and local authorities to efficiently broadcast emergency alert and warning messages across multiple channels. The EAS became operational on January 1, 1997, after being approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1994, replacing the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), and largely supplanted the similar Emergency Override System (also known as "Local Access Alert" systems), though the latter is still used from time to time. Its main improvement over the EBS, and perhaps its most distinctive feature, is its application of a digitally encoded audio signal known as Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME), which is responsible for the “screeching” or “beeping” sounds at the start and end of each message. The first signal is the "header" which encodes, among other information, the alert type and locations, or the specific area that should receive the message. The last short burst marks the end-of-message. These signals are read by specialized encoder-decoder equipment. This design allows for automated station-to-station relay of alerts to only the area the alert was intended for.
Like the Emergency Broadcast System, the system is primarily designed to allow the president of the United States to address the country via all radio and television stations in the event of a national emergency. Despite this, neither the system nor its predecessors have been used in this manner. The ubiquity of news coverage in these situations, such as during the September 11 attacks, has been credited to making usage of the system unnecessary or redundant. In practice, it is used at a regional scale to distribute information regarding imminent threats to public safety, such as severe weather situations (including flash floods and tornadoes), Amber alerts, and other civil emergencies.
It is jointly coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the FCC, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EAS regulations and standards are governed by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC. All broadcast television, broadcast and satellite radio stations, as well as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), are required to participate in the system.
Messages in the EAS are composed of four parts: a digitally encoded Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) header, an attention signal, an audio announcement, and a digitally encoded end-of-message marker.
The ⓘ is the most critical part of the EAS design. It contains information about who originated the alert (the president, state or local authorities, the National Weather Service (NOAA/NWS), or the broadcaster), a short, general description of the event (tornado, flood, severe thunderstorm), the areas affected (up to 32 counties or states), the expected duration of the event (in minutes), the date and time it was issued (in UTC), and an identification of the originating station.
There are 79 radio stations designated as National Primary Stations in the Primary Entry Point (PEP) System to distribute presidential messages to other broadcast stations and cable systems.
The National Emergency Message (formerly known as the Emergency Action Notification) is the notice to broadcasters that the president of the United States or their designee will deliver a message over the EAS via the PEP system. The government has stated that the system would allow a president to speak during a national emergency within 10 minutes.