Educational earthquake SMS mistaken for imminent warning by Guangdong netizens

An educational text message sent by the Guangdong Earthquake Agency on Monday sparked a false alarm and topped social media trending charts after residents mistook it for an imminent earthquake warning.

At 8.37am, residents across the province received an SMS stating that earthquake early warnings could help the public take emergency shelter and save lives before a destructive quake strikes.

The unexpected message sent rarely-shaken Guangdong residents into a panic, with netizens rushing to the Chinese platform Weibo to express their confusion.

"The message was completely unclear. It scared me, and I even ran downstairs," one Weibo user wrote.

As the online discussion spread, authorities published an article around 10am clarifying that they would be sending educational public service messages across the province from May 11 to 17 to enhance public awareness of disaster prevention.

The campaign aims to ensure residents can receive timely earthquake alerts by encouraging them to follow the agency's official WeChat mini-program ahead of National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Day on May 12.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓