(Photo by David Nagy)

Cellphones on and around the National Mall will ring out at 3 p.m. on Sunday, part of a test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system ahead of inauguration.

The four-year-old system has been used in the region before for weather and Amber alerts, but D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency has never had to deploy it.

“It is one of the most effective ways to get out to the public and we want to make sure we use it wisely,” says HSEMA Director Christopher Geldart. “We felt that given that the amount of things we’re going to see over the next week, it would be good if we fully tested it.” The agency has done internal tests before, but stopped just short of the point of pushing the notification out.

This time, though, phones on participating networks will blast out a loud noise that is accompanied by a text message which reads: “This is a test of the District of Columbia Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”

The message will target the area around the Mall, though depending on the cell towers, people as far away as Arlington might receive the alert.

HSEMA will have staff on the ground checking to make sure that phones with a variety of carriers are alerted.