Smartphones, TVs and radios across Quebec buzzed practically in unison at 2:55 p.m. Thursday, as the nationwide Alert Ready system was tested.
Everywhere else in the country, the alert went off at 1:55 p.m., local time.
This past May 6, provincial emergency management organizations conducted their first test of the system, but there were glitches — in Quebec, a coding error led to the test being an absolute dud. There problem between the group that operates the emergency alert system and Quebec's emergency management team, which was resolved within a matter of hours.
In Ontario, some test alerts were heard and felt on mobile devices, but many wireless subscribers didn't receive any signals. And in Manitoba, roughly half of people's phones went off.