CALIFORNIA, USA — Californians with the MyShake Application were supposed to receive a test alert on Thursday at 10:19 a.m.
But some people were woken up by the alert several hours early. It was sent out to users at 10:19 UTC, which is 3:19 a.m. Pacific Time.
"You might have gotten a test alert from the MyShakeApp early today. We acknowledge that no one wants to get a test message this early and we are working with our #ShakeAlert technical partner to determine what happened," ShakeAlert said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
ShakeAlert said it was likely a mix-up between time zones set in the test alert system.
"We learned from our colleagues at the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services and UC Berkeley that the time zone setting was not correct on the alert delivery so they were actually delivering to 10:19 AM UTC," said Robert de Groot, with USGS who serves as the Shake Alert Operations Team Lead.
About 2.8 million people with the app received a test alert about a fake magnitude 5.0 earthquake in San Francisco. It was just a test of the emergency notification system.
The test alert then went out again at 10:19 a.m. pacific time as originally planned.
These alerts are meant to "deliver warnings to people via cell phones before the strongest shaking arrives," according to the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. The app will usually send alerts for earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 and greater.
People closer to the earthquake will get an alert more quickly than people further away.
The test alert was sent out as part of the Great California ShakeOut drill, which happens annually on the third Thursday of October.
The U.S. Geological Survey also sends out notifications about an earthquake. A notification would appear that reads "Earthquake Detected! Drop, Cover, Hold On. Protect Yourself. - USGS ShakeAlert."
Find out how to get earthquake alerts for iPhone, Android, or Wireless Emergency Alerts HERE.
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