Tsunami alert: warning for NZ

Western Bay's exposure to the risk of tsunami hit home today when Civil Defence swung into high alert after being warned one could be on the way.
A massive subterranean earthquake, which registered 7.8 on the Richter scale, off Tonga at 3:26am prompted the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii to issue a tsunami warning for New Zealand and the South Pacific.
If a tsunami had been generated, it would have hit coastal Bay of Plenty about 6.55am.
It is two weeks before Tauranga's network of nine civil defence coastal sirens will be ready for use. They have been installed and last-minute glitches are being worked through.
Residents in Papamoa have spoken of their fears that not enough was done to warn them of the potential risk.
Western Bay's manager of emergency management Barry Low told the Bay of Plenty Times: "It did not give us much time to react."
He said the region's emergency management team had assembled by 5.30am and was ready to send emergency vehicles into Tauranga's coastal suburbs. That proved unnecessary when the all-clear came through about 5.45am.
Today's alert highlighted Tauranga coastline's exposure to "near events".
It emphasised how people were very much responsible for themselves, he said.
"That is something that has to be made clear ... that is why we are working very hard to get the sirens installed."
About all that could have been done, given the impact time, was send police and fire service vehicles through the suburbs with sirens blaring, using loud hailers to warn residents.
"People who live in the coastal area should be aware of the risk _ they should know what to do."
If a tsunami had eventuated, it would have hit on low tide _ and been two metres lower than if it landed at high tide.
Mr Low was woken by police northern communications centre at 4.45am with a warning of a possible tsunami.
At that stage the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii had not been able to assess whether the quake had generated a tsunami, so it issued a general warning.
Mr Low rang the district's chief of police, chief fire officer and several other key personnel. Shortly after they assembled at the emergency management communications centre at Western Bay District Council, the warning was downgraded when it became clear that Fiji and two key tide gauges had not registered a tsunami.
Mr Low said the alert was timely, given New Zealand's participation in an international tsunami exercise later this month.
One anxious Papamoa resident who contacted Western Bay Civil Defence was told to call back after 8am.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, rang after relatives had contacted her from England about 5am.
She was stunned that she was then told to ring back hours later.
"The tsunami was meant to hit at 6.30am so I was shocked. It was quite bizarre."
Barry Connolly, who lives on Papamoa Beach Rd, was woken by a neighbour at 5am.
Shortly after, his daughter called from England to warn him of the tsunami threat. Mr Connolly said he was concerned that his daughter knew of the threat before he did.
"She found out from a friend in Manchester, then she contacted me. It's scary to think she knew before I did."
He immediately grabbed his cat and headed for higher ground. He questioned why warnings weren't available earlier but believed word of mouth was the best way to handle a potential disaster.
"If you put out a mass warning everyone is going to panic. At least if warnings are passed on through word of mouth the situation can be handled in an orderly fashion."
Like Mr Connolly, Papamoa Beach resident Hugh Knight was informed just after 5am by a relative in South Africa.
"I was told ... a good half-hour before any warnings were put out in New Zealand.
"I really don't think it is good enough. Maybe Civil Defence should have acted sooner, quite simply we weren't adequately informed."
Other Papamoa Beach residents Christine Fraser and Lionel Taylor heard about the tsunami through radio and television. Mrs Fraser said while more warnings should have been in place, she didn't believe the risk was high.
"If the risk was high I would have wanted to be woken in the middle of the night ... but when I saw it on TV at 4am I thought it was an over-reaction."
Mr Taylor added that most people would have been asleep so warnings through the media wouldn't have been effective.
"You'll be lucky to get 5 per cent of the population at that time."
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said today's alert highlighted the importance of communication. If it had been for real, the city's geography and few main roads would have made it difficult for people to get out of the coastal suburbs in time.
The council was working on a mass evacuation strategy involving forestry and farm roads as well, he said.
In Tonga, New Zealand jazz musician Richard Adams was rocked and rolled when the quake hit.
His band Nairobi Trio were in a hotel a few hundred metres from the coast.
"It was the biggest earthquake I've ever felt," he said.
"Things were falling over, it went on for at least ... well, it felt like five minutes, but I guess it was probably a minute."