The Bureau of Meteorology triggered confusion and mild panic this morning when it briefly issued a tsunami warning for Brisbane and other capital cities after an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck near New Zealand.
But the warning was a test, and there was no earthquake.
The bureau issued a message on its app at 11.32am warning of a potential tsunami threat to Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and Victoria.
Some users of the bureau’s app as far inland as Canberra and the Blue Mountains also received the warning.
The Bureau of Meteorology tested its new tsunami early warning system software today.
After clicking on the initial alert, users were taken to a tsunami warning page which highlighted Brisbane and coastal areas – including the Gold Coast and south to Point Danger on the New South Wales/ Queensland border – as affected areas.
However, scattered through the alert was the word “TEST”.
“TEST Marine Threat Tsunami Warning is current for Queensland,” the alert read.
People in the marine threat areas were advised to get out of the water and move away from the water’s edge.
A short time later, the BOM issued a “cancelled tsunami warning” message.
A Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman confirmed there was no tsunami threat to Australia.
“The Bureau of Meteorology issued test verification posts on social media platform X (Twitter) and the BOM Weather app between 11am - 12pm AEST on Wednesday, 25 September 2024 as part of the transition to the new tsunami early warning system software,” she said.