The emergency alert on your phone is a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) . It is a short emergency message sent directly to your phone by authorized government alerting authorities, such as the National Weather Service, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the President of the United States. The alert is accompanied by a unique attention signal and a vibration or ringtone. The WEA system is an essential part of Americas emergency preparedness and has been used more than 84,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations. The WEA system is designed to allow alerts to be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harms way, without the need to download an app or subscribe to a service. The nationwide WEA test message is sent to mobile phones nationwide to test the system and ensure that it is working properly.