This Civil Defence page has information on tsunamis.

  what-is-a-tsunami-fact-sheet.pdf

I’m happy that CD are cautious. We are very complacent about earthquakes until they happen. These tsunami alerts are relevant because they serve as a reminder that after a mega quake the earths plates are realigning and since its due, our Alpine fault could be next. 

The alerts have made me think more about escape routes to travel on avoiding known fault lines should there be a quake. Also preparing a kit for the car in case driving at the time. Disposable raincoats, fresh water, rugs a brolly, torch and so on. I’ve always kept fresh water in the car as got caught once in a two hour traffic jam with the heat beating down on the car. 

I can see the South Coast from the window and it looks pretty much the same as always. Maybe the waterline is a few feet closer to the road but that could be because it’s a Southerly. Also noticed no ferries crossing since yesterday.

In any case it’s a good reminder to do a bit of forward planning with family, arranging meeting points and in an emergency conversations about what if this, then that. Plenty of baked beans and rice here, just in case.

White Island was the last of complacency.

I am not impressed that they sent one out at 6:30 am saying nothing new. These alerts are supposed to be for immediate danger. They are abusing it and this really needs to get bought under control since they send crap like "don't breathe the smoke" when there is a fire and similar things.

My brother lives on his yacht up in Northland. He and many of his nautical compadres nearby chose not to vacate their yachts overnight. 

He called me this morning to report an uneventful night (with the exception of the dawn-breaker emergency alert), but expressed grave concerns for the Tairawhiti region which has suffered a 20cm tide surge this morning. He's on high alert in case Northland suffers the same fate...

Eva888:

 

I’m happy that CD are cautious. We are very complacent about earthquakes until they happen. These tsunami alerts are relevant because they serve as a reminder that after a mega quake the earths plates are realigning and since its due, our Alpine fault could be next. 

 

But the problem is that at this "advisory" stage, they are not actually enforcing anything so its up to local "interpretation"

In Wellington the Eastbourne commuter ferry gets cancelled, while in Auckland people are zipping off to Devonport and Waiheke as usual...

Imagine if a tsunami surge did happen and people on the coast were not made aware and lives were lost. CD would be mince for not doing their job. A lot of people purposely don’t watch or listen to the news so would be unaware of the danger in going for their usual dog walk on the beach at 7 am. 

CD can’t model for every situation therefore they err on the side of caution.

It’s about 20 seconds of loud inconvenience. Hardly worth the angst.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/568533/technical-glitch-sends-out-tsunami-emergency-alert-to-phones-multiple-times-or-not-at-all

Ok so not 20 seconds for some and needs to be fixed. That would be very annoying.  Are the Telcos at fault here? 

It’s a no win situation.

They’ll be held accountable for no communication but, then over communication also leads to complacency as people just ignore them or find ways to disable them.

As an interesting aside. This is the first emergency notification that has actually over ridden my phone’s silent setting and made a noise. My phone is always on silent and previous notifications have come through without any noise. 

I got one alert yesterday afternoon, another one at 6:30am, then at around 8:00am my watch started vibrating furiously while I was swimming in a public pool. 

I don't have a problem with these things being sent out in a life threatening emergency that requires immediate action, but not three times for an event that poses no risk to the vast majority of people receiving the message. If this is to be expected in future then there should be a way to opt out. 

Eva888:

 

Imagine if a tsunami surge did happen and people on the coast were not made aware and lives were lost. CD would be mince for not doing their job. A lot of people purposely don’t watch or listen to the news so would be unaware of the danger in going for their usual dog walk on the beach at 7 am. 

 

CD can’t model for every situation therefore they err on the side of caution.

 

It’s about 20 seconds of loud inconvenience. Hardly worth the angst.

 

The message they are sending is not to go to the water, not an urgent thing to run and head for the hills. It is not worthy of the alert system being used to say that waking people up and disrupting them.

alasta: 

 

I don't have a problem with these things being sent out in a life threatening emergency that requires immediate action, but not three times for an event that poses no risk to the vast majority of people receiving the message. If this is to be expected in future then there should be a way to opt out. 

 

They also sent one for a missing person (delivery of them between 8 and 10pm) in CHC recently. Some out of the bounds of the target area

Anyone that questioned it publicly got flamed 'what if it was your grandma..' etc. But the point of the criteria is to portray urgency with clear instruction and avoid public criticism and undue alerting (the first one here missing the timing and urgency need). And stop the next one being 'but you did it for that missing person, why not this one...'

Anything outside apparently needs sign off.

https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-08/dpmc-roiar-oia-2020-21-0419-policy-for-issuance-of-emergency-mobile-alert.pdf

Mrcutiepatootie:

 

I get that it’s an emergency and I’d appreciate if I lived in Japan or close to where it happened, but they’ve sent out these alerts as if the tsunami’s going across the pacific to get here. More of a nuisance than an emergency if anything.

 

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake in Chile killed 138 people in Japan, 61 in Hawaii, and 32 in the Philippines.

Distance from an earthquake is no guarantee of safety from a tsunami.

I was living in Fukushima during the big one in 2011, and previously lived in a house that the surge came to within 400 metres of (Google streetview link). 
Numerous people there knew someone who had died on the coast — many because they ignored the alerts and sirens that went off each time there was a tsunami threat.

Yep, the alerts are a pain. So is drowning.

There is a page here that was linked on reddit to give them feedback. https://www.research.net/r/EMA-feedback - so I have given feedback about the one this morning.

I was listening to a Podcast in my car at 0630 this morning. Got a hell of a fright.

Didn't get any alerts last night, got the 0630 this morning (though, last night I was at home in Paeroa, this morning I was on the Southern Motorway in Auckland).

Carplay read out the alert for me.