A government emergency alert is a message sent to mobile devices to warn the public of an impending natural or human-made disaster. These alerts are sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial public alerting authorities through mobile carriers. There are two main types of government emergency alerts:

• Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs): These are short emergency messages that can be broadcast from cell towers to any WEA-enabled mobile device in a locally targeted area. WEAs can be sent by state and local public safety officials, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the President of the United States. WEAs warn the public of an imminent threat to safety in their area, such as extreme weather, missing children, and other critical situations.

• Emergency Alert System (EAS): This is a national public warning system that allows the President of the United States to address the nation within 10 minutes during a national emergency. State and local authorities may also use the system to deliver important emergency information such as weather information, imminent threats, AMBER alerts, and local incident information targeted to specific areas.

Government emergency alerts are an essential part of Americas emergency preparedness, and they can provide immediate, life-saving information to the public.