Australians sent into panic by 8.2-magnitude earthquake and tsunami warning – before realising it’s a test

Some residents of eastern Australia experienced brief panic on Wednesday morning after the Bureau of Meteorology sent out a test tsunami warning to residents across New South Wales, Queensland, and as far inland as Canberra.

The alert, which was part of a test of new software, referenced an 8.2 magnitude earthquake off New Zealand’s coast and triggered alarm among a number of users, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The alerts that popped up via the bureau’s weather app did not include the word “test” in the title, screenshots shared by concerned users showed, although the full text of the alert was clearly labelled as such.

The bureau sent a message through its app at 11.32am, warning of a tsunami threat to Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Users in the Blue Mountains and as far away as Canberra reportedly also received the alert.

Shortly after, it sent another message reading “cancelled tsunami warning” which again clarified that it was a test.

But a combination of misreading the first message, and the interval between the two messages, was enough for some app users to go into panic and confusion. Many users were caught off guard despite the bureau advising that tests would take place between 11am and 12pm on Wednesday and to ignore the alert.

“A tsunami warning for Australia? I hope it’s just that, a warning and not an actual tsunami,” a user posted on X.

“Nothing quite like a casual tsunami warning to get the heart rate up on a Wednesday,” wrote another.

Later, the bureau apologised for the confusion. A spokesperson explained that the test messages were part of the transition to a new tsunami early warning system software.

“There is NO tsunami threat to Australia,” the spokesperson said.

“The Bureau acknowledges and apologises for any confusion that this test may have caused. Testing is important to help the Bureau and partners prepare and plan for real tsunami threats.”

Some social media commentators also criticised app users who were deceived by the test warning, accusing them of failing to pay attention to detail as the alerts clearly indicated that they were part of a test.