Bay's tsunami alert system creaky after Solomons quake

TSUNAMI TEXTS: The text messages sent to Bay residents after an earthquake in the Solomon Islands.

Problems with emergency alerts have again been highlighted by a tsunami scare in the Bay, with quirks in the text system described as "crazy".

Yesterday's magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Solomon Islands sparked fears that a tsunami would hit New Zealand's east coast, prompting warnings for residents to keep away from beaches and switch on their radios.

The fears were groundless, but they proved a test for local and national warning systems based on text messages and alerts issued to media.

The earthquake struck at 6.30am New Zealand time, and Western Bay residents started receiving their first tsunami warnings by text message at 7.39am - a time when many people are yet to switch on their phones or turn off a "sleep mode" that blocks messages during the night.

This habit means that people can receive disaster warning messages up to eight hours late if they are sent during the night.

Papamoa East resident Renee Ball, who petitioned for sirens after sleeping through an earlier tsunami scare, said she was alerted by her mum and had posted a warning on Facebook before getting a text from Bay authorities.

Her mother had been alerted by Civil Defence in Auckland, which sent out its messages quicker than the Bay.

"My mum messaged me saying 'tsunami alert' and I thought 'what? I didn't get one'," Mrs Ball said. "That's just crazy."

Mrs Ball's petition had received 5000 signatures.

Text messages are sent from local Civil Defence offices, while warning systems such as tsunami sirens are the responsibility of local councils. Some other alerts are issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence in Wellington.

Another source of confusion was the wording of an email the ministry sent to media.

The email, sent at 8.05am, said that a tsunami could take four to five hours to arrive, but did not say whether that was from the time of the email or from the time of the earthquake, which struck 90 minutes earlier.

The ministry's Bridget Cheesman told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend the email meant "from the time of the earthquake".

The ministry's responses included posts on Facebook and Twitter between 7am and 8.25am, she said.

The Bay of Plenty's director of emergency management, Clinton Naude, said more than 20,000 messages were sent to people who had subscribed to Civil Defence's emergency text alerts after the quake.

Timeline

6.30am: Earthquake rocks the Solomons

6.49am: Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issues tsunami alert

7.31am: Ministry of Civil Defence issues warning

7.39am: Bay residents begin receiving first tsunami alert texts

8.05am: Ministry of Civil Defence alerts media

8.12am: Bay residents start getting "stay off beach" text

8.32am: Ministry Civil Defence cancels warning

8.45am: Bay residents start getting alert cancellation texts

10.12am: Estimated earliest tsunami arrival time