What is EBS or EAS? Introducing the Public Warning System in the US

The US is one of the countries with modern and advanced public warning systems. Throughout history, this country has upgraded its national warning system a couple of times. More than 2 decades ago, the US adopted EBS. Now, the country is applying EAS. What is EBS or EAS?

Both systems are emergency warning systems. However, EBS was the older version of EAS. Thus, it is not surprising that EAS has more modern technologies to disseminate alerts. Below are some details about EBS or EAS.

What is EBS or EAS?

What is EBS? EBS is an acronym for Emergency Broadcast System. Meanwhile, EAS stands for Emergency Alert System. Both are public warning systems adopted by the US.

1. About EBS or EAS

EBS is the predecessor of EAS. The US government adopted EBS from 1963 to 1996. In 1997, this country replaced the EBS with the EAS. What is EBS used for? EBS or EAS is designed to help the US authorities in broadcasting emergency messages or warnings to citizens. 

People in the US typically receive these emergency alerts when there is a national threat, such as a war event, a war threat, and a national crisis. However, the use of this public warning system is not only for national emergencies.

In most cases, authorities use EBS or EAS for broadcasting local emergencies, e.g., extreme weather events and natural disasters. For 33 years, US authorities have disseminated over 20,000 emergency alerts using EBS.

This emergency system broadcasts the alerts through several methods. This system is connected to all TV stations and commercial radio stations in the US. In the past, authorities also used a teletypewriter network to communicate emergency messages with particular parties.

2. How Does it Work?

When one of the EAS components detects an emergency, another component will compose an encoded warning message. This message contains short information about the emergency and the sender of the warning.

After that, the encoder-decoder equipment will read, re-encode, and send the alert to other EAS stations. Next, radio and TV stations will receive this warning. They then broadcast it to the public. TVs and radios will emit a unique tone to attract the public’s attention before the alert appears. 

Authorities typically broadcast the alerts a few minutes before an immediate threat. However, they may disseminate warnings hours to days before the crisis if there is a slow-onset threat, such as a flood and wildfire.

The Differences of EBS vs EAS

As a more modern version of the public warning system, EAS has several differences compared to EBS. Below are some aspects that differentiate EBS and EAS.

1. Technology

EBS used analog technology in broadcasting warnings. Therefore, EBS broadcast facilities need human operators to conduct the operations. 

On the other hand, EAS uses digital signals with SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology. This technology will broadcast an encoded alert only to EAS stations in particular locations.

2. Activation

The activation of the EBS alert relied on a ‘daisy chain’ of radio stations. Once TV and radio stations received the alert, their operators would manually interrupt their programs and air this alert.

However, the EAS has an automated activation. TV and radio stations will automatically air an emergency alert when they receive a warning from nearby EAS stations.

3. Targeting

EBS broadcasts an emergency alert universally. Therefore, people who were not in the affected areas would know the warning from watching TV or listening to the radio.

Meanwhile, EAS allows authorities to geo-target the warning. Therefore, only TV and radio stations in specific areas will air the alert. Thus, the alert is more effective.

4. Purposes

At first, EBS was primarily for disseminating presidential alerts during a national crisis. Later on, authorities also used it for local emergencies. 

On the other hand, EAS has a wider scope. Authorities use this system for disseminating alerts during national, state, and local-level emergencies.

More Advanced Public Warning System in the US

The US does not only rely on EAS when disseminating emergency warnings. This country also broadcasts wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) through FEMA in times of emergency. Authorities send them to all cell phone users in targeted areas. 

These alerts look like a text message and emit a unique tone to attract the attention of cell phone users. Moreover, they are effective for reaching people who are not watching TV or listening to the radio during an emergency.

One of the components used to send WEAs is the cell broadcaster. This equipment is resilient because it can disseminate alerts to cell phones that are not connected to an internet connection or cellular service. Moreover, this tool works rapidly. 

What is EBS or EAS? EBS or EAS is a public warning system adopted by the US. This system uses TV and radio broadcasts to communicate emergency alerts. This country will also send WEAs to ensure everyone gets the alerts. Other countries can adopt a similar wireless emergency alert system to mitigate disaster risks. Please visit smsbroadcaster.com before assembling this system.