Don’t panic if you receive a tsunami warning message on your smartphone this Friday! This is a simple exercise of the FR-Alert system carried out by the prefectures. The opportunity to review the safety instructions!
Please note, you may receive a tsunami alert on your smartphone this Friday, January 19, between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., if you are located on the coast of one of the following departments: Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Hérault, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud. Do not panic, however, this is only an exercise aimed at testing the FR-Alert system on a large scale, as explained the press release of the prefecture of the southern defense and security zone. Set up by the Government, this emergency information system allows the authorities (law enforcement, emergency services, etc.) to send real-time notifications to the mobile phones of people in an affected area. to danger. Populations are then quickly informed that an incident has taken place or that there is danger nearby, so that they can react accordingly. It is used in cases of absolute emergency (natural or industrial disaster, attack, serious road accident, chemical or nuclear accident, etc.) (see our article).
The nine departments concerned are potentially exposed to the risk of tsunamis, which can be caused by earthquakes in the Mediterranean, due to their location in the coastal zone. The aim of this exercise is to test the system, to raise awareness among the population about receiving an alert on a smartphone, to remind people of the reflexes to adopt and to evaluate the reactions of the recipients of the alert.
FR-Alert: how to react to the tsunami warning message?
Concretely, you will receive a message on your smartphone accompanied by a loud ringtone – including if your device is on silent –which will contain two links. “The first, distributed internally to coastal municipalities, will make it possible to map the reception (or not) of notifications in the potentially impacted land and maritime area”the second will return “towards a feedback questionnaire” which the public will be able to complete. No special action or precaution is expected of you. Do not contact the police, emergency services, or the telephone switchboards of the department prefectures and town halls concerned! SAIP sirens will not be triggered, although they would be in the event of a tsunami alert, and no firefighter or police officer will be deployed on the ground for this purpose. On the other hand,Students from the University of Avignon will be deployed to the town of Grau-du-Roi in Gard, in order to observe the reactions of the population upon receipt of the notification.
The prefecture takes this opportunity to remind people of the right actions in the event of a real tsunami alert. If you find yourself in a situation of this type, move away from the seashore immediately until you reach a high point. Don’t take your car and leave your children at school, where they will be taken care of. If you are at sea, head out to sea. In all cases, listen to the instructions of the official authorities (prefecture, town halls) and stay in a safe place until the authorities declare the end of the alert.