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Mexico Sets May 6 National Drill to Send Quake Alerts to Phones

The exercise is a nationwide trial of a new cell-broadcast emergency system.

Overview

  • The Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil scheduled the first 2026 drill for Wednesday, May 6 at 11:00 a.m. Central, combining phone alerts with public loudspeakers.
  • The phone alert will use Cell Broadcast, which reaches all devices in a target area without internet and even when a phone is locked or on silent.
  • The drill’s main scenario models a very large Guerrero earthquake, and only SASMEX coverage zones will sound more than 14,000 sirens while the phone alert targets all 32 states.
  • Phones will display “ESTO ES UN SIMULACRO. Este es un mensaje para probar la funcionalidad del Sistema Nacional de Alertas del Gobierno de México” and play a distinctive tone.
  • Officials will time delivery and track carrier performance across Telcel, AT&T, Movistar and Altán Redes, and they urge building registration by May 5 and users to enable emergency alerts on devices, with industry estimates suggesting the message could reach over 80 million people.