Australians sent into panic by earthquake and tsunami warning – turns out it was just a test

Several parts of eastern Australia experienced brief panic after the Bureau of Meteorology mistakenly sent a tsunami warning to residents in New South Wales, Queensland, and as far inland as Canberra on Wednesday.

The alert, caused by a test of new software, referenced an 8.2 magnitude earthquake off New Zealand’s coast and triggered alarm, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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

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

But the interval between the two messages was enough for some app users to go into panic and confusion. Many users were caught off guard and were misled 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 criticised the app users who were deceived by the test warning, accusing them of lacking attention to detail as the alerts clearly indicated that they were part of a test.