ShakeAlert in Oregon
ShakeAlert® uses science and technology to detect significant earthquakes quickly and sends a real time alert to people on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices through text-like messages, and through apps as they become available. These important alerts come automatically on most cell phones, making a distinctive sound and displaying a text message that reads, “Earthquake Detected! Drop, Cover, Hold On. Protect Yourself." This text message is also available in Spanish. Some mobile phones with text-to-voice capability may read out the message text.
ShakeAlert does not predict when or where an earthquake will occur or how long it will last, and depending on your location, you may not get an alert before shaking begins. As soon as you feel shaking or get an alert, take protective action! DROP-COVER-HOLD ON, because seconds matter.
Want to learn more about this advancing technology? The Oregon Emergency Managment has the answers! Find them here...
No sign up is required but notifications need to be enabled on your phone
To receive ShakeAlert notifications, no action needs to be taken other than enabling emergency alerts on your cell phone. To do this, follow the directions below:
Apple iPhones:
- Tap “Settings" > “Notifications"
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen.
- Under “Government Alerts" tap “Emergency Alerts" and “Public Safety Alerts" to turn them on or off.
- If emergency alerts are turned on, the circle will be on the right-hand side of the switch. No further action is needed.
- If emergency alerts are turned off, the circle will be on the left-hand side of the switch. You will need to tap the switch to put it in the “on" position.
Android Phones (the exact location of the options to turn on Emergency Alerts may vary):
- If you can't find “Emergency Alerts" by searching “settings" it may be within your Messaging app, instead.
- Make sure all alerts are turned on (i.e. “Extreme threats", “Severe threats", and “Public safety messages"). If alerts are turned on, the circle will be on the right-hand side of the switch. No further action is needed.
- If alerts are turned off, the circle will be on the left-hand side of the switch. You will need to tap the switch to put it in the “on" position
- Please refer to your mobile phone carrier and/or mobile phone manufacturer's website for additional information.
- In 2020, Google released an earthquake alert feature that is powered by ShakeAlert. This service is only available on wireless devices using the Android operating system.