Hong Kong authorities have cut the activation time for emergency mobile alerts from one hour to 15 minutes under an upgraded system that also allows messages to target specific districts.
Security Secretary Chris Tang Ping-keung announced the changes on a radio show on Saturday. The upgrades apply to the Emergency Alert System established in 2020 and managed by the Office of the Communications Authority. The system cost HK$150 million (US$19 million) and has been used only once, in 2022, to notify residents about Queen Elizabeth Hospital becoming a Covid treatment facility.
The reduction follows a hearing into the April Wang Fuk Court fire that highlighted delays in sending alerts. Tang noted the original design focused on preset scenarios such as earthquakes and tsunamis. He did not specify which incidents would trigger future alerts.
Previously the Fire Services Department said authorisation and broadcast could take up to an hour. Officials argued a loud alarm would not have aided evacuation in that case.
