Many citizens received a message on Thursday morning a few tens of seconds before an earthquake was approaching. Not everyone got the alert because it wasn’t a Ro-Alert message, but an Android message. The Department of Emergency Management says it won’t even send alerts before an earthquake, citing the “high risk of causing a sense of panic” as one of the reasons cited.

​An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 occurred in the Vranca area this morning, and many people felt it, but unlike other cases, many people received Google alerts shortly before with the magnitude and distance.

The head of the Department of Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, said earlier in the morning that the message was not a Ro-Alert that should be sent by the authorities. DSU issued a clarification Thursday night, saying that in the event of earthquakes, the Ro-Alert system will not broadcast alerts until they are triggered.

• “After an earthquake occurs, if it causes serious consequences, it will be possible to broadcast warning messages to the population with appropriate protection measures (eg: emergency aid points, information on shelters to ensure the protection of communities, etc.). ..)”, – notes DSU.

Why are Ro-Alert messages not sent before an earthquake?

Reasons cited by DSU:

• low predictability
• a great risk of causing a feeling of panic
• inappropriate behavior born of panic at a time when the appropriate course of action is calm and knowledge of the rules to follow in the event of an earthquake.

According to DSU, “if a warning message is sent a few seconds before an earthquake, there is a possibility of crowding or crowding in places where it is contraindicated to be (for example: building stairs, elevator, etc.)”.

• “These actions can turn into real emergency situations that can threaten life, even in a situation where the earthquake had no consequences,” say representatives of the DSU.

DSU boasts emergency response guidelines

The Office for Emergency Situations notes that, together with the State Emergency Management Agency, it makes “constant and continuous efforts to prepare the population for emergency situations by means of the following methods”:

• guides on how to respond before, during and after an emergency – www.fiipregatit.ro
• availability of a mobile Center for training the population in emergency situations in several cities, at the school level and beyond. Since May of this year, our experts together with volunteers have trained 21,029 people, including 12,477 students, in 20 districts, including the city of Bucharest.
• information about the DSU application. The app is currently in the process of being updated, and this month the app will change its configuration to become much more “user-friendly”.
• updating and returning public attention to information campaigns developed by IGSU – “Don’t tremble before an earthquake”, Campaigns against fires, RISK “Surrender! Improvisations are a disaster!” and so on
• the presence of the “BE READY” Caravan in several cities, at the school level and beyond. Since May of this year, our experts together with volunteers have trained 9,376 people, including 5,998 students, in 14 countries.
• information on the official channels of DSU and IGSU in social networks: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.