The Bureau of Meteorology sent out a test tsunami warning via its app, causing confusion for thousands of Aussies who thought there was a genuine threat.
The test alert was triggered by a fictional 8.2 magnitude earthquake off New Zealand and was issued as part of the agency’s transition to new tsunami early warning software.
BoM clarified that there is no actual tsunami threat to Australia, and the notifications were solely for testing purposes.
Regardless, Aussies as far inland as Canberra received a notification from the BOM app simply saying ‘tsunami warning’ and requiring them to click for the detail.
In a statement, the weather bureau said: ‘The Bureau of Meteorology issued test verification posts on the BOM App between 11AM-12PM AEST on Wednesday 25 September 2024 as part of the transition to the new tsunami early warning system software. There is no tsunami threat to Australia.’
It was too late for many Aussies who believed the alert was real and criticised the BOM for its failure to include the word ‘test’ in the title.
‘If you’re going to send out ‘TSUNAMI ALERTS’ as a test, maybe include that in the notification title and not just in the message you have to open in the app,’ one said.
A second joked: ‘Just got a warning that a tsunami is hitting in ten minutes – time to tell my boss what I really think.’
Many Aussies were alarmed when the BOM app sent a push notification about a tsunami warning
Much of the east coast was subject to the fictional marine warning
A third said it was ‘very odd’ that the test wasn’t publicised more, given the nature of the alert.
‘The **Test** part of the notification could have been more prominent,’ another recipient said.
‘I was in the process of shooting off warnings to our SE QLD team.’
BoM apologised for confusing Aussies, adding the test notifications were essential to ‘prepare and plan’ for real threats.
‘The Bureau acknowledges and apologises for any confusion that this test may have caused,’ BoM wrote.
‘The test warnings were sent to the BoM Weather app for various locations. The test warnings were cancelled immediately after they were issued.
‘Testing is important to help the Bureau and partners prepare and plan for for real tsunami threats.’
The Bureau of Meteorology sent out a test tsunami warning via its app, causing confusion for thousands of Aussies who thought there was a real threat
Queensland state disaster coordinator Shane Chelepy said the alert should have never been sent.
‘It did include the words that it was a test, but it was not as clear as it could have been,’ he told the ABC.