Australians were thrown into panic on Wednesday after they received tsunami warnings on their weather app, only to be relieved later as it was revealed that the alert tuned out to be a test by Bureau of Meteorology.
App users were alerted to an impending tsunami triggered by an 8.2 magnitude earthquake off New Zealand’s west coast.
The authorities also issued a “cancelled tsunami warning” and apologised for causing panic among the public.
“The Bureau acknowledges and apologises for any confusion that this test may have caused. There is no tsunami threat to Australia. The Bureau issued test verification posts on the BOM App between 11am-12am AEST on Wednesday September 25, 2024 as part of the transition to the new tsunami early warning system software.
“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 real tsunami threats,” it added.
Netizens shared the screenshots of the warning with a pinch of sarcastic take on the incident on social media.
“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.
