South Pasadena Sends Test Alert to Millions Across L.A.

A routine South Pasadena test misfired just before 6 p.m., sending a “no emergency” alert to millions across Los Angeles County

Just before 6 p.m. Tuesday on Nov. 11, mobile phones across Los Angeles County lit up with an unexpected message reading “Public Safety Alert. This is a test of the South Pasadena WEA system. There is no emergency.”

What was originally intended to be an internal test by South Pasadena ended up reaching an estimated 10 million cell phones across Los Angeles County.

South Pasadena Police Department said the alert was accidentally sent to the public while staff were checking the City’s emergency alert software.

“The message was intended to remain within the test system but was unintentionally transmitted to the public,” the South Pasadena Police Department said in a statement. “City staff are investigating the cause of the error. We apologize for the mistake and any confusion it caused.”

Spokesperson Jennifer Colby told the Los Angeles Times the cause appeared to be a human error and not a malfunction of the platform that the city uses for emergency alerts.