When & how I’m notified

When a catastrophic event or dangerous situation posing an immediate threat to their life, health or safety is expected or is in progress, citizens are alerted in order to receive guidelines and instructions on self-protection measures.

Also, if a state of emergency is declared, 112 can notify citizens about immediately applicable preventive measures taken to protect their lives, physical integrity and properties.
 

Keep calm, follow the provided guidelines and adhere to the instructions of the authorities. 

If you have a smartphone and it is updated with the manufacturer's firmware, then you will receive written alerts (Cell Broadcast - CB message), which shall appear on the screen of your phone and will be accompanied by a characteristic alarm sound.

Alerts via Cell Broadcast are automatically enabled on mobile phones available in Greece as of December 2019 and onwards.

If you do not have a smartphone, you can receive alerts from 112 by registering for the alerts service. To do so, fill in the online form available here or call 112.

When you register for the service, it's helpful to know that you'll be asked to set a specific geographic location, in order to receive alerts about emergencies that occur only within that area. 

In addition to written alerts sent to mobile phones via Cell Broadcast, you can also receive alerts in the following ways:

• SMS: 112 appears as the sender of the message
• e-mail: An @112.gov.gr email address appears as the sender of the e-mail
• voice alarms on a mobile or landline phone: This is the rendering of a written text into an audio message (text-to-speech). 112 appears as the caller and the alert is read out as soon as you answer the call. 

For all the above, register here.

The alarm sound that accompanies the emergency alert is different from any other notification sound produced by the phone. This way, the text message that aims to warn us about the danger and inform us on the actions we need to take in order to stay safe, will not escape our attention.

Many smartphones keep a history of emergency alerts, which you can refer to. The relevant option is available at the same tab where the emergency alerts are activated.

In any case, you can consult the official accounts of 112 on the social media platforms Facebook and X (Twitter), where all broadcast alerts are posted. 

You do not need to register to the Service in order to listen to the content of 112 written alerts in text-to-speech (TTS) mode. If your mobile phone supports TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on iOS, the alert will be read aloud automatically. 

If your mobile phone is of older technology or you wish to receive the alert on your landline, then you need to register to the Service. The language in which the alert is read out depends on the device settings, for which you can consult the user manual or the manufacturer. 

It is noted that TTS technology on devices is mandatory in the framework of the Equivalent Access Measures in the EU, in order for a written text to be read out so that visually impaired people can also understand it. It is also noted that the process of a Cell Broadcast message being read out is related solely to the text-to-speech (TTS) software supported by each mobile phone manufacturer (TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on iOS). 
 

It is recommended that you do not disable the receipt of alerts sent for your safety in emergencies or dangerous phenomena or incidents. If, however, you insist on your decision not to receive relevant security alerts from now on, follow your phone's user instructions or contact the device manufacturer for help with the relevant settings.

If you need to contact 112 for administrative support issues, send an email to t_112@civilprotection.gr

112 alerts are sent free of charge as part of the operation of the single European emergency number 112. This obligation derives from Article 110 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 (Public warning system), as transposed into the Greek legal order by Article 218 of Law 4727/ 2020 (Government Gazette, Series I, 184). 

According to the same article, the Cell Broadcasting service is used to send alerts from 112 in cases of emergency or dangerous phenomena / incidents. 

More specific provisions for sending alerts via 112 to citizens are also included in Law 4662/2020, as amended by Law 5075/2023 (Government Gazette, Series I, 206).