Emergency Alert System

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The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is the national warning system of the United States of America .

The system went into operation on January 1, 1997 and replaced the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) that had been in operation until then . EAS enables the President of the United States to speak to the American people via all channels within 10 minutes in the event of an acute situation. In addition, EAS enables the population to be warned of extreme weather phenomena such as tornadoes , cyclones , heavy snowfalls with lightning ice and storm surges. On November 9, 2011 at 2 p.m. East Coast local time and on October 4, 2018, EAS was the only nationwide test to date.

structure

EAS is jointly operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Weather Service (NOAA / NWS). EAS messages are broadcast using short and medium wave, VHF, terrestrial TV, satellite TV, cable TV, Land Mobile Radio Service, on the VHF and UHF radio bands and via FiOS (Wireline Video Providers). In addition, EAS warnings can be sent in the form of text messages using cell broadcast as short messages to all cell phone owners in the cellular network in a certain area, provided they have activated the function for receiving such messages on the cell phone.

All US broadcasters are obliged to operate an EAS decoder that is looped into the backend (transmission control room) of the transmission path and, when activated, can automatically switch to the current program. The system uses the same digital technology and thus the same decoders as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Radio (NWR). This means that stations can also receive the weather warnings from the National Weather Service.

False alarms

In addition to the official tests, there have been repeated false alarms in the past, intentional and unintentional.

In September 2010, some radio stations in the country were watching multiple trips a week. After research, the commercial of a petrol station operator that used the signals to automatically trigger alarms in the background was finally identified.

Signals that led to false alarms were also used in the advertisement for the American movie Olympus Has Fallen in 2013. In October 2014, viewers reported warnings on their screens in individual metropolitan areas in the country. The trigger was a television report in which the actual signals from the nationwide EAS test from 2011 were used.

On January 13, 2018, the Hawaiian Disaster Relief Coordination Office issued an acute warning of incoming ballistic missiles for the state of Hawaii . The warning reached the people on the island chain via all channels, including radio, television and mobile phones. It contained instructions to seek shelter immediately and that reporting was not an exercise. The false report quickly led to partial overloading of the telephone system, as many residents said goodbye to family members or wanted to inquire about the situation from official agencies and emergency services. For many users, the Internet was not accessible at all. An EAS all-clear could only be sent 38 minutes later, at which time official bodies had already informed about the false alarm via social media and television stations had also broadcast the all-clear. It was later revealed that an employee had made a mistake in the course of an internal test because he had not heard the word "exercise" and believed that it was a real incident.

The system has been misused a number of times in the past by hackers who spread fake news.

Transferability to Germany

After surprising heavy rain events at the end of May 2016, six people died in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria . The operator of a private weather service, Jörg Kachelmann , accused the DWD and the ARD , especially SWR and BR , of not having warned clearly enough about the storms. It is no coincidence that even with the worst tornadoes and hurricanes in the USA, if at all, only a few people would die, as the stations would quickly change their programs and report on the weather situation on a monothematic basis. That would save lives. The US broadcasters are informed about local storms by NOAA via the EAS.

SatWaS - MoWaS

Since 2001, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance has had the "satellite-based warning system" SatWaS available to warn the population in the event of a defense situation and the dangers of aerial warfare . The system was intended to reach more than 160 broadcasting corporations, Internet providers and mobile network operators and to send warning messages with a very short transmission time. The transfer of the message to the current program did not work automatically, however, and the form in which a warning message was sent was the responsibility of the provider. The “Modular Warning System” ( MoWaS ) was set up on the basis of SatWaS from 2011 , which is to be used to warn the population in the event of regional dangers such as storms, floods or chemical accidents.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Emergency Alert System (EAS). In: 911 Broadcast Library - Emergency Notification Articles. 911broadcast.com, accessed February 13, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Arco Oil Radio Ads Include False EAS Header. August 24, 2014, accessed November 15, 2018 .
  3. ↑ False alarm 'Olympus' movie ad draws $ 1.9M fine. December 31, 2014, accessed November 15, 2018 .
  4. ↑ NERW Extra: A Few Words About EAS . In: Fybush.com . October 28, 2014 ( fybush.com [accessed November 15, 2018]).
  5. ↑ 'Wrong button' sends out false missile alert . In: Honolulu Star Advertiser . January 13, 2018 ( staradvertiser.com [accessed November 15, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Joseph Hausner: Four dead in thunderstorms in the south - allegations against ARD: Did Das Erste warn too late of horror storms? In: FOCUS Online. May 31, 2016, accessed February 13, 2019 .
  7. ↑ ARD defends itself against Kachelmann's "Hochwatergate". In: The world. May 30, 2016, accessed June 2, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Nikolaus Ziske: Warning the population with the modular warning system (MoWaS). Leaflet of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. 2013. From BBK.bund.de ( PDF ; 586 kB), accessed on February 13, 2019.