Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Quintana Roo will participate in a nationwide Mass Alert System drill based on the hypothesis of a natural disaster. On September 19, over 80 million cell phones across Mexico will be alerted to the disaster by the government’s emergency services.
The Government of Mexico will send out emergency alerts based on several hypotheses. One will be an 8.1 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán.
Another will be a tsunami warning in Baja California, while an emergency alert for an urban fire will be sent to residents in Durango, Guanajuato and Tamaulipas. The Mass Alert System will also send an emergency cell phone hurricane notice to residents in the states of Campeche, Yucatan, Sonora, Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo.
The government says for the first time, the Mass Alert System will reach 80 million cell phones as part of the Second National Drill.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized that cell phone alerts are vitally important as they will allow people in rural areas to be alerted and thus take precautions against natural phenomena such as earthquakes, which are unpredictable.
“It’s very important because the level of cell phone penetration, the number of people who own a cell phone, is very high in our country, even in rural areas.
“So, maybe you don’t have an alarm near your home or the state alarm didn’t go off, but you have a cell phone that alerts you so you can take all the necessary precautions. There’s been a lot of progress, but we need to keep working on it,” she commented during her morning press conference.
Laura Velázquez Alzúa, the National Coordinator of Civil Protection for the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection, explained that the 2025 Second National Drill will be based on the hypothesis of an 8.1 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, while in Campeche, Yucatán, Sonora, Quintana Roo, and Baja California Sur, it will be due to a hurricane. In Durango, Guanajuato and Tamaulipas, it will be an urban fire and in Baja California, a tsunami.
She reported that the seismic alert signal will be broadcast through 14,491 loudspeakers, 100 AM/FM commercial radio stations and 11 commercial television stations in addition to the 80 million mobile phone users in the country.
According to Velázquez Alzúa, Mexico becomes the fourth country to implement this system.
José Antonio Peña Merino, the head of the ATDT, explained that this alert can be activated in a specific area such as a neighborhood, town or locality, and in the case of a nationwide drill, it will be received on all devices at the same time and immediately.
He noted that the Mass Alert System was tested on April 19 in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico with 98 percent coverage. He says that all phones have this type of notification activated, however, those who do not have it configured this way can call 079 or log in to their devices.
For Android: Settings, notifications, advanced settings, wireless emergency alerts, and turn on the option. For Apple: Settings, notifications and at the bottom are the options to activate.
The nationwide drill, set for September 19 at 1:00 p.m. Quintana Roo time, is being conducted through the National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) and the Digital Transformation and Telecommunications Agency (ATDT).
