HANOVER, PA ‒ Phones in Pennsylvania rang out with the eerie noise of an emergency alert on Friday afternoon, July 11, as the state warned of an intermittent 911 outage.

“Pennsylvania is experiencing a statewide intermittent 911 outage,” the alert said. “Individuals experiencing issues contacting 911 are asked to contact their local 911 Center on their non-Emergency lines.”

The alert was received by phones in multiple parts of the state, including Beaver County in western Pennsylvania and York County in southcentral, Pennsylvania.

“Please only call 911 for true emergencies. Do not call just to check whether it is working,” the PA Emergency Management Agency posted on social media. “If you can’t get through and need emergency response, call your local 911 office directly.”

Pennsylvania residents can find their local office at readypa.info/psaps

The state did not immediately provide information on the cause of the 911 problems or how long they may take to resolve.

Pennsylvania is the fifth most populous state in the United States with over 13 million residents, according to census records.

PA says 911 experiencing problems. Here’s what to do if you have an emergency

The York County Office of Emergency Management reported on Facebook that there is a disruption in the 911 phone system.

“York County 911 is still handling calls, which are being re-routed to non-emergency numbers,” officials said. “Because of this, there may be a delay in the calls being answered.”

Contributing: Patrick O’Shea, Matthew Toth and Jo Ciavaglia, USA TODAY NETWORK