Daily Busan
Emergency text alerts to provide more clarity for English speakers
When disaster strikes, being in a foreign country can be scary and panic-inducing, especially when you don’t fully understand what is happening.
Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety is tackling this problem. The ministry will upgrade its emergency text alert system to include key disaster information in English, such as the type of disaster and its scale.
Emergency text alerts are messages sent to every phone within a certain radius of dangerous situations. The messages alert citizens to natural disasters and extreme weather events and if there is a need to evacuate an area. The alerts are organized into three categories: Critical emergency alerts, emergency alerts and public safety alerts. Among the three, only the first two are accompanied by a loud alarm.
The new system will make these alerts easier for English speakers to understand. For example, when emergency alerts are issued due to an earthquake, the text will include the keyword “Earthquake” in English, followed by the magnitude written as “M0.0.”
The date and time the alert was issued will also be written in numbers only. Keywords like “Terror Threat Warning,” “Hazmat,” and “Heavy Rain” will be sent next to the Korean terms and accompanied by alarm sounds.
The upgraded system will complement the current audio service provided by the ministry that reads the disaster warning texts in English or Chinese. This service is available via the Emergency Ready App.
<Today's Voca- 오늘의 단어>
disaster: 재난 strike: 강타하다 panic: 공황 induce: 유발하다 radius: 반경 evacuate: 대피하다 critical: 심각한 be accompanied: 동반되다 earthquake: 지진 magnitude: 진도 complement: 보완하다
Editor: Song Soomi
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