In an emergency, it can be used by NEMA, Civil Defence and emergency services to send geotargeted alerts to all cellular handsets in a selected area.<\/p>\n
NZ Civil Defence’s Emergency Mobile Alert test is taking place today between 6pm and 7pm. <\/p>\n
John Price of NEMA said the alert is a \u201cvaluable life safety tool\u201d.<\/p>\n
In marking the ninth year of annual tests, Price said it shows about 90% of New Zealanders receive the test, or are with someone who does. <\/p>\n
Price said that while it\u2019s an important channel, it\u2019s only one of many ways to alert people in emergencies. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need people to listen to the radio, follow MetService and their local Civil Defence Group – and most importantly, trust their \u2018danger sense\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you experience rising floodwaters, a long or strong earthquake near the coast, or the telltale signs of a landslide, then don\u2019t wait for an alert – evacuate immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police issued a warning on social media to those with a second phone for their safety. <\/p>\n
It is recommended to turn it off or put it in flight mode between 6 and 7pm to ensure it\u2019s \u201cnot discovered\u201d when the nationwide EMA is sent. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome mobile devices set to silent mode will still emit a sound when the Emergency Mobile Alert test is sent, so switching to flight mode or turning off your device is the only way to avoid the loud sound of the alert,\u201d police said.<\/p>\n
NEMA answered nine commonly asked questions about the test:<\/p>\n
Can I opt out of receiving EMAs?<\/p>\n
No. As the EMA system is about keeping you safe, there is no opt-out option. For this reason, we use the system sparingly, when there is a severe, urgent and certain threat to life, health or property.<\/p>\n
Can I opt out of Sunday\u2019s test?<\/p>\n
The test will start shortly after 6pm and run until about 7pm, so if you turn your phone off or onto flight mode during this time, you won\u2019t receive the alert.<\/p>\n
Can I silence alerts?<\/p>\n
Alerts can\u2019t be silenced ahead of time as they override the silent function on most phones. If an alert sounds, you can mute it by pressing the volume control button. <\/p>\n
Can you make it a nicer sound?<\/p>\n
No. It\u2019s designed as such to get your attention. It\u2019s based on a global standard, so you\u2019ll hear the same noise if you receive alerts in other countries that use cell broadcast alerts. <\/p>\n
How did you get my number?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry, we don\u2019t have your phone number! The EMA reaches phones via a broadcast signal that\u2019s targeted by area, rather than to individual phone numbers. Every cellphone connected to a tower in the broadcast area receives the EMA.<\/p>\n
In a real emergency: Why didn\u2019t I receive an EMA for a weather warning?<\/p>\n
Civil Defence Groups only issue EMA\u2019s in very severe circumstances, not every weather warning. EMAs will be used for thunderstorms, as they are very unpredictable and fast-moving.<\/p>\n
MetService are NZ\u2019s statutory warning provider. <\/p>\n
NEMA said the best alerts come from nature: \u201cSo remember to use your danger sense and act immediately if you experience the natural warning signs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why have I received the same alert multiple times?<\/p>\n
Civil Defence sends each message \u201conce\u201d, but if people are travelling, they could receive the message multiple times as it connects to different cellphone towers. <\/p>\n
If your phone has just updated its software, the alert could be repeated as its not recognised with the new software. <\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t I get an alert? <\/p>\n
You\u2019re outside the geographically targeted areaYou don\u2019t have mobile reception, or your phone is turned off\/on flight modeYour phone is an older model that isn\u2019t compatible, or has missed a software update<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t get the alert, but others in my house did – why?<\/p>\n
This means you\u2019re \u201cover the border\u201d of the targeted area, and with a different cell network. <\/p>\n
Geotargeted areas don\u2019t have a clean border, as cell towers for different providers are in different locations, so some \u201cbleed\u201d will occur for anyone on the \u201csafe\u201d side of the boundary. <\/p>\n
Civil Defence is launching a map on June 19 so people can check where live updates were sent. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an emergency, it can be used by NEMA, Civil Defence and emergency services to send geotargeted alerts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[41242,5195,682,26501,1403,150183,15974,19338,71,148309,342,23158,111,43,139,69,16792,6211,765,46849,61,5911,8222],"class_list":["post-476343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alert","tag-be","tag-being","tag-civil","tag-defence","tag-defences","tag-emergency","tag-expect","tag-from","tag-holders","tag-mobile","tag-nationwide","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-phone","tag-system","tag-test","tag-tested","tag-to","tag-tonight","tag-warned"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}