FR-Alert: Phones ring in seven French departments for a national exercise on Tuesday – La Nouvelle Tribune

On October 13, 2026, thousands of smartphones in France rang simultaneously in seven departments during a FR-Alert exercise, with notifications marked as 'Test' and no action required from the public. The departments involved are Seine-et-Marne, Oise, Dordogne, Lot, Maine-et-Loire, Saône-et-Loire, and Sarthe, as part of the National Resilience Day. FR-Alert, operational since June 2022 and based on the European EU-Alert system, can be triggered for natural disasters, industrial accidents, health risks, or terrorist threats, and uses cellular and geolocated SMS alerts. The Oise prefecture confirmed no citizen response was necessary and advised against calling emergency services.