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Alternative alert system 'mothballed' despite benefits
Alternative alert system 'mothballed' despite benefits

RNZ News

time10 hours ago

  • General
  • RNZ News

Alternative alert system 'mothballed' despite benefits

Some people claim they received the tsunami alert dozens of times. Photo: RNZ/ Karoline Tuckey The founder of an alternative emergency alert framework says officials never gave it a look-in when they were setting up the under-fire Emergency Mobile Alert system. And he reckons his was better, proving its worth during the aftermath of the Christchurch quakes. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is investigating glitches in the current system following the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia on Wednesday . Some Kiwis say they received up to 50 alerts, while some did not receive any at all. Matthew Nolan founded an alternative system, Readynet, which was used during the Christchurch Earthquakes and to mobilise volunteers cleaning up the Rena oil spill. "I think that the NEMA system - which costs them the best part of $20 million - has miscued for them, and it's certainly not the first time," he told Morning Report on Friday. "There is a record of it waking people up at night for messages that were text messages only, and as well as circumstances where people did not get the alert that they should have got." NEMA spokesperson John Price told Checkpoint on Thursday there were many reasons for the differences. "It could be different providers and different cell towers. There's a lot of possibilities, but this is something we're working through. We'll look into it, absolutely." Nolan criticised the NEMA system as being "one-way" only, and unable to tell if people had actually received the message as no information was sent back. "Whereas other systems and a better system, and yes, our system was interactive, and we could see where the messages had been received. "So for example, you send a message out into an area where there's a big river and cell towers have been wiped out. Our system would tell you that all the people in that river have not received the message - all the people in that river valley have not received the message. You can deduct from that, that in fact, the cell phone towers are out." Where the magnitude 8.8 quake struck. Photo: AFP He claimed the Emergency Mobile Alert system "can't target messages". "It's a modern equivalent of a World War 2 fire siren. It alerts people that something's happening and it gives them a brief message, but it can't target messages. "So for example… people in Upper Hutt got no message. In Lower Hutt, lots of people got the message. So, you know, why is there a difference between one area and another?" According to the NEMA website, the current system can "broadcast to all capable phones from targeted cell towers to areas affected by serious hazards". "You may not receive an alert if you are out of mobile coverage, mobile phone towers are damaged, or there is a power outage." Price said the variation in coverage "could be different providers and different cell towers, there's a lot of possibilities". Nolan suggested the system was not working as well as it could because it was now owned by "a banking conglomerate out of New York". New Zealand's system was provided by Dutch company one2many, which is now a division of Everbridge Public Warning, an American software company that specialises in alert systems. "Now, those sorts of companies are chasing the big markets, the multi-million markets, and I think New Zealand is a very small end of that market," Nolan said. "There is no office of that organisation in Wellington to work alongside emergency services in New Zealand… "I think that a New Zealand-owned, developed, supported, helpdesked system is the best, and that's what we had built, and our system is now mothballed." He said he asked officials to look at using Readynet for the national system, but "they never ever fully examined what we had, even though it was used during Christchurch to communicate after the Christchurch earthquake, to communicate with all the residents and contractors left inside the cordons. "And that was, information such as, well, 'The cordon will be open on the corner of such and such street at four o'clock this afternoon to allow people in and out for shopping there.' That's the sort of stuff you can't put on Facebook." As of Friday morning, a tsunami advisory remained in place . Pacific nations emerged relatively unscathed . Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

French Polynesia lifts alert after tsunami waves smaller than feared
French Polynesia lifts alert after tsunami waves smaller than feared

Reuters

time2 days ago

  • Climate
  • Reuters

French Polynesia lifts alert after tsunami waves smaller than feared

PARIS, July 30 (Reuters) - Local authorities lifted the tsunami alert in the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia on Wednesday and said people could return to their homes, but said residents should remain cautious. Tsunami waves had begun hitting early on Wednesday, but were smaller than initially feared, authorities said. The High Commission of the Republic in French Polynesia said wave heights had reached 1.50 metres, down from a previous forecast of up to 4 metres. Additional smaller waves were expected in the coming hours, officials said. The waves follow the powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. Hours before the first tsunami waves began to hit, residents were urged to go to safe zones, either at higher elevations or far offshore, and stay there until the official alert was lifted. Nuku Hiva is the largest Marquesas island and about 1,400 km northeast of Tahiti, also part of French Polynesia. Elsewhere in French Polynesia, wave heights were expected to remain below 30 centimeters, not requiring evacuation or sheltering. However, residents are urged to stay away from shorelines and river mouths. The Marquesas Islands, among the most remote in the world, have a population of approximately 9,500, according to a 2022 census. French Polynesia's five archipelagos comprise 118 islands but have a total land area of only about 4,200 sq km.

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