Australia issues tsunami warning after '8.2 magnitude earthquake'. Then this happened...

There was panic and confusion in Australia after its weather agency issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday (Sep 25), only to clarify later that it was a test.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued the warning about an '8.2 magnitude earthquake off New Zealand' to the southern half of the country.

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The warning was sent around 11.30 am on the mobile phones of people in the southern parts of Australia, mainly New South Wales and Queensland coast. It was sent across push notifications to the BOM app, third-party weather apps, and the social media platform X, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

It added that the tsunami would reach Tasmania by midday, Victoria and NSW at around 12.15 pm and Brisbane by 1.15 pm before terminating around Moreton Island, ABC said in a report.

The message was indeed marked "test" but many people did not notice it.

A tsunami is the formation of massive waves caused by earthquakes that take place underwater. Interestingly, the Australian tsunami warning was sent to even people living some 125 km away from the nearest beach, The Guardian said in a report.

A second message was sent some 20 minutes after the first, that said “cancelled tsunami warning,” with a notice that the earlier message was a test.

But by then, the panic had set in.

“Holy crap! Just a got a tsunami warning”, one app user wrote on X.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Queensland state disaster coordinator Shane Chelepy as saying that the alert was "unfortunate" and should never have been sent. "It did include the words that it was a test, but it was not as clear as it could have been," he said.

But he added, "At times it is necessary, as we lead into our high-risk weather systems, that all of our alert systems are ready to go."

The Guardian cited a BOM spokesperson as saying that the test messages were sent as part of a transition to new tsunami early warning system software.

“Testing is important to help the Bureau and partners prepare and plan for real tsunami threats,” said theBOM, which is part of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC).

A listener told ABC radio that he did not realise at first that the tsunami watch warning was marked "test" at the top and bottom of the notification.

"It's given me a good practice run for if something does happen," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)