Emergency officials have apologised and launched an investigation after the Civil Defence website experienced an outage during a tsunami warning triggered by a strong earthquake felt by tens of thousands across the South Island last night.
The magnitude 5.9 quake, revised down from 6.3, struck 40km north of Te Anau at 9.14pm at a depth of 53km. Nearly 20,000 people reported feeling the tremor, which was felt across the South Island including Otago, Southland and Canterbury.
A tsunami warning was initially issued after the strong earthquake near Te Anau (Source: Pat and Chewie on BHN). (Source: Breakfast)
A tsunami warning was issued and later downgraded to an advisory after the magnitude was revised down, with authorities saying coastal inundation was not expected but dangerous currents and unpredictable surges remained possible from Milford Sound to Puysegur Point. The advisory was cancelled shortly before midnight.
Firewall issue appears to be to blame
In a statement, NEMA confirmed the Civil Defence website experienced an outage during the event, which was restored while the warning was still in effect.
"NEMA regularly tests its website to ensure it can handle high loads of traffic, and the most recent such test was last month during the nationwide Emergency Mobile Alert test," the agency said.
"The cause of last night's outage appears to be a new issue related to a firewall, and is being investigated. We apologise to those who were inconvenienced by the outage."
NEMA said it relied on a multi-channel system — including emergency mobile alerts, social media, radio and other media — so the public was not reliant on a single point of failure for information.
Two emergency mobile alerts were issued overnight: one for the initial warning, and a second for the subsequent downgrade to an advisory.
"We also urge the public to act on nature's warnings – Long or Strong, Get Gone," the agency said, adding it would carry out a debrief following the event to identify improvements for the future.
'You cannot always rely on technology'
Speaking to RNZ's Morning Report on Friday, NEMA director John Price said an emergency mobile alert was issued to around 30 to 40 people living near Milford Sound within 10 minutes of the earthquake.
"[It] was very clear to us that a tsunami threat needed to be issued for Milford Sound requiring evacuations," Price told RNZ.
"That is what was done. NEMA issued the emergency mobile alert to the impacted area less than 10 minutes after receiving the advice from Earth Science New Zealand. It's all about keeping people safe at the end of the day."
Asked by RNZ whether the quake was perhaps a dress rehearsal for a potential "big one" along the Alpine Fault, Price said a "rigorous debriefing process to identify what went well and what we can do better next time" would be undertaken.
"You cannot always rely on technology. It is one of the things that we do use. Of course, the [emergency mobile alert] is one tool, radio is another tool, and we ask people to use their own human danger sense."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including a strong quake rocks the south, and the rescue of a man stuck in a portaloo. (Source: Breakfast)
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