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I don't know of anything in the relevant regulation that would prohibit a statewide EAS activation for a public health emergency.

Wireless Emergency Alerts use the same tones, but didn’t exist on 9/11. EAS did exist, but the alerts are supposed to include the protective action to be taken. What protective action would you have recommended the public take? And since broadcast news widely covered the attacks, what contribution would an EAS alert make?

Other comments links to video of when it was first introduced and tested. It's from November 2011

No, EAS was rolled out in 1997, and it replaced the very similar EBS which was from the 60s. 2011 is just the first time they actually attempted a nationwide alert, which was always a capability but had never been used to that point.