Should you’re a Verizon buyer who’s observed your cellphone shifting into SOS mode all through the day, there’s now an official rationalization: As confirmed by Verizon itself, the service has been going through a nationwide outage all through the afternoon.

“We’re conscious of a problem impacting wi-fi voice and information providers for some clients,” Verizon stated to Lifehacker sister website Mashable. “Our engineers are engaged and are working to determine and resolve the difficulty shortly. We perceive how essential dependable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”

The corporate additionally posted an acknowledgement over on X, whereas on fashionable service interruption monitoring web site Downdetector (which is owned by the identical father or mother firm as Lifehacker), consumer stories of issues have been coming in steadily since about midday. They reached a peak of over 170,000 stories at round 12:50 EST, and whereas they’ve dropped steadily since then, the newest replace at time of writing nonetheless noticed over 60,000 stories of issues.

I am a Verizon buyer, however my cellphone appears to be unaffected for now, even when I flip my wifi off and rely purely on my cell sign. That is a bit stunning, as in response to Downdetector, the areas with probably the most stories embody each New York Metropolis (seemingly which means Manhattan) and Brooklyn, which would come with the place I am situated. Different areas reporting main disruptions embody Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Atlanta; Dallas; Philadelphia; Miami; and Ashburn, Va.

As for which providers are impacted, 61% of stories solely level out cell phone issues typically, however 35% of stories particularly complain a couple of lack of sign, whereas 4% report points with cell web.

You may know in case you’re affected in case your sign power is low, which is often indicated by 4 vertical bars within the top-right nook of your cellphone. Your cellphone may additionally show that it is in “SOS” Mode. This doesn’t imply that you simply or your cellphone are in any hazard, however somewhat, that sign is simply current for contacting emergency providers like 911.

Sadly, one of the best you are able to do whereas the outage is resolved might be wait, though in case you’re linked to wifi and are nonetheless having points calling or texting, you possibly can attempt another messaging app like WhatsApp, in addition to make sure that wifi calling is enabled in your cellphone. The lack of cell service ought to largely have an effect on these counting on information from cell towers, somewhat than these linked to an web router.

Whereas Verizon is going through the brunt of consumer stories, T-Cellular and AT&T are additionally seeing their very own share of outage complaints over on Downdetector. A few of these could also be a case of confusion, nonetheless. On X, T-Cellular stated that its community “is working usually and as anticipated,” however that some clients should still face points, particularly in the event that they’re attempting to achieve somebody on a Verizon plan. AT&T posted comparable sentiments, albeit with a extra aggressive tone.

In the meantime, metropolis governments are issuing their very own warnings. An emergency AlertDC notification despatched to Washington D.C. residents stated, “You probably have an emergency and cannot join utilizing your Verizon Wi-fi machine, please join utilizing a tool from one other service, a landline, or go to a police district or fireplace station to report the emergency.”

Whereas the town’s recommendation is comprehensible, because it needs to arrange readers for a worst potential state of affairs, it is value reiterating that, for emergency calls, telephones can use any viable close by community. In case you are a Verizon buyer and also you want rapid assist from 911, it is nonetheless greatest to aim reaching out over the cellphone (and even textual content, relying in your space) earlier than taking the additional time to go to emergency providers in individual. As a reminder, connecting to wifi and enabling wifi calling may help with this.

As for New York, it is taking a extra measured strategy with its messaging. New York Metropolis’s Workplace of Emergency Administration posted to X that it’s conscious of the outage and that the federal government is “working carefully with our companions” to asses potential impacts.