Things escalated for Australians on Wednesday after their weather app abetted them with tsunami alerts only to hear it later than it was just an assessment test by Bureau of Meteorology. App users received a notification that there was a tsunami warning after an 8.2 magnitude earthquake occurred near New Zealand’s west coast.
Even then, the spokesman said any confusion may have been caused by relevant authorities who also, during the inquiry, sent out a warning of a “cancelled tsunami warning”.
‘The Bureau acknowledges and apologises for any confusion that this test may have caused. The Bureau of Meteorology warns that there is a tsunami threat to Australia. On Wednesday September 25, 2024 between 11 am to12 am AEST, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued verification test posts on the BOM App as part of new emergency response practices due to new tsunami warning system software.
‘The test warnings were sent to the BOM Weather app for different locations for various time periods after which the warnings were also issued. Further, the test notifications were withdrawn almost instantly after they were issued out. Testing as such helps the Bureau and partners to prepare and plan for the real tsunami dangers,” this released.
Social media users were sure to upload images of the warning message with some satire about the scenario encountered.
“Nothing quite like a casual tsunami warning to get the heat rate up on a Wednesday,” a user wrote.
“Welcome to the Blue Mountains Please be carefull of bushfires, floods, landslips and tsunamis,” said another.