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Comment by digitallyfree | Hacker News Reader

While mobile alerts are great, I wish there was a way to (voluntarily) get those official warnings via other means like (landline) phone call, SMS, or email - in cases where you may not have your phone on you or if there is no service.

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> I wish there was a way to (voluntarily) get those official warnings via other means

Mobile alerts are the most recent addition in the US; they are also carried by radio and TV broadcast, Cable TV, and a variety of other mechanisms. But not POTS,SMS, or email.

I don't know if that's everywhere in Japan but in 2014 I was in Tokyo having lunch outside when suddenly this fast alert (ie. not a slow siren) started blaring, 5 seconds later the ground was shaking.

It’s a super scary noise and says calmly over the top “地震です” over and over again.

Definitely had my fair scare of shares when visiting Tokyo.

Have you checked your local government services? Some have emergency alerts via sms. Not sure if earthquake maybe be included.

I'm not sure if SMS and email are ever considered urgent enough for this purpose. The alert is sent out seconds before, it's either a loud and unusual sound or you might get to read/answer after it actually hits.

i.e. it'd be useless.

SLAs for SMS are also about 98%. 1 in 50 messages isn't going to get to its intended recipient in any reasonable timeframe, which is pretty bad for a time-sensitive public safety feature.

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