Millions of people in Los Angeles have mistakenly received an emergency alert on their phones from authorities asking them to evacuate due to the city’s wildfires. The evacuation alarm should have only gone to the residents of a certain area, but something went wrong with the technology.
Due to a “technical error,” the emergency evacuation warning was issued by Los Angeles County sent to all residents. The warning was actually only intended for people near the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills area.
“An EVACUATION has been declared in your area. Stay alert and be ready to evacuate. Gather loved ones, pets and supplies,” read the alarming message, which iPhone and Android users in Los Angeles County received. Nearly 10 million people live in LA County.
Mistake, thanks
According to US media, the warning immediately caused chaos on social media, with residents questioning the legitimacy of the evacuation order. Authorities sent a second emergency notification to everyone about 20 minutes later, with the correction: “Ignore the latest evacuation warning.”
At least seven people have been killed in devastating wildfires in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, including Palisades, in recent days. More than 130,000 people have already been evacuated.
NL-Alert
These mobile emergency notifications are comparable to the NL-Alert in the Netherlands. With cell broadcast technology, warnings are distributed via mobile towers to all telephones in a specific region. Something must have gone wrong in LA when setting up the area.
Val’s missile alert
The incident is reminiscent of the panic that arose in Hawaii in 2018 due to a false emergency alarm about an approaching ballistic missile. That was the result of an error during an exercise. Ironically, the text of that emergency notification said “This is not a drill.”
Read more tech news and don’t miss anything with the Bright app.
Source: www.bright.nl
