Tuvalu’s Emergency Alert System is the Internet’s Favorite New Bop

GiorgioMarauder Published 11/06/2022 in ftw

Have you ever wondered what Emergency Alert Systems sound like in other countries? Well wonder no longer, for TikToker @geog_maps_ has compiled and rated a bunch of them to scratch that strange itch for us deep in our curious pink things. For the most part, they’re what you’d expect of an Emergency Alert System meant to warn a population of imminent disaster. Unnerving, a bit jarring, falling somewhere along a spectrum from mildly eerie to fight-or-flight-inducing (here’s looking at you, Zambia).

@geog_maps_ #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #fyp? #fyp??viral #fypage #fy #fyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #viral #geography #maps #mapping #mapper #easalarm #scary ? original sound - †? ?†

But one stands out from the pack. One country decided that impending doom shouldn’t spell panic, but celebration. I mean, if we’re all gonna die anyway, f*** it, let's have some fun, right? That country is none other than the tiny island nation of Tuvalu.

The internet quickly caught wind of Tuvalu’s catchy alarm and meme'd the crap out of it.

@vtappz It’s some song reversed as their eas alarm ???? #eas #alarm #easalarm #tuvalu #fyp #fyp? #blowthisup #dancing #moves ? sonido original - Tik Toker

@roy3tevfan #brooklynbloodpop #fyp #foryou ? sonido original - Tik Toker

But suspicion soon spread. Many took to the comments of the myriad TikToks featuring the sound because it just felt a bit too familiar. Eventually, the discerning internet figured it out. It turns out the banger was actually an edited version of the popular Syko song “#BrooklynBloodPop!”. Someone had reversed it to create the masterpiece of an Emergency Alert System.

As much as we’d all like it to be true that every tsunami or earthquake in Tuvalu is rung in by an insane island-wide rave, I’m sorry to say it ain’t. Tuvalu doesn’t even have its own Emergency Alert System. It’s a nation within the British Commonwealth, meaning they’d use the U.K.’s alarm if ever there was an emergency of that magnitude.

As to how the tune initially spread? About a year ago, a video misleadingly entitled “Tuvalu EAS Alarm (ALT)” gained popularity on YouTube:

TikTokers bandwagoning on a recurring trend of rating EAS (Emergency Alert System) alarms began incorporating the Tuvalu soundbite. The sound has since been re-uploaded on numerous YouTube accounts and utilized in hundreds of TikToks, as the people just keep on meme-ing it (as showcased above).

So there we have it. The alarm may not be legitimate, but it does legitimately slap, and it’s funny as hell, too.