The Global Weather & EAS Society’s EAS Relay Network (ERN) showed a very strong performance with the 2023 National EAS test, with almost all participants reporting no issues.
Out of 16 total participants:
- 15 reported receive and relay with no issues.
- One participant did not receive the test.
One participant reported failure to receive the test was caused by an issue on the participant broadcast machine.
This result shows that ERN is more than capable of quickly relaying and notifying listeners of national-level emergencies at a moment’s notice. However, it should not be relied upon as a primary source of emergency information.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) administered the test.
The test was issued over IPAWS-CAP at exactly 2:20 P.M. Eastern Time on October 4th, lighting up the network almost immediately. Participants utilizing digital ENDECs were generally faster, but due to the hub-and-spoke design of the network, the receiving participants had the alert within a matter of seconds.
