Why didn’t phones receive an earthquake alert? COE explains

Santo Domingo.- Following Sunday’s 5.5-magnitude earthquake, the Emergency Operations Center (COE) explained why the Cell Broadcast emergency alert system did not send notifications to residents’ cell phones.

The earthquake occurred at 5:49 p.m., causing widespread alarm and prompting people to evacuate homes, buildings and shopping centers. Some residents took to social media to question why they had not received an earthquake alert.

In response, the COE explained that earthquakes are sudden phenomena, and activating the Cell Broadcast system must be based on indicators and criteria established in a previously defined protocol.

The agency also clarified that Cell Broadcast is still being implemented in the Dominican Republic and does not yet operate at full capacity across all telecommunications service providers.

According to the COE, authorities are currently working on the installation and integration of the technological platform that will be used to manage the alert system.

The agency said the National Evacuation Drill provided an opportunity to test Cell Broadcast with one telecommunications provider. The exercise was intended to verify the system’s operation, identify potential failures and determine the improvements needed to achieve comprehensive coverage.

The explanation came after citizens questioned on social media why their phones had not sounded an alert during Sunday’s earthquake.