Officials in the US state of Georgia have received multiple reports of “alarms” that turned out to be the songs of the Brood X cicadas, TheHill reports.

Trillions of the cicadas are currently emerging across the eastern US but will soon return underground for another 17-year cycle.

The Union County Fire/Rescue and Emergency Management Agency took to Facebook to urge callers to track down potential alarms before making 911 calls.

“[Cicadas] have a range of different sounds they can produce, making them some of the loudest of all insects,” they wrote.

“It is often difficult to pinpoint where the sound is coming from and can sound like a vehicle or home alarm system.

“Their song can be loud enough to cause hearing loss as they can produce sounds up to 120 decibels.”