But the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), which issued the alert – as well as a warning about a magnitude 8.2 earthquake in New Zealand – said there was no reason to panic.
The BoM confirmed that alerts received on its weather app were a test.
While an article on X warned the public in advance of the alerts, the BoM has since apologized for any confusion the test may have caused.
The test alerts were part of the BoM’s transition to new software used as part of the tsunami early warning system.
The warnings were sent to different locations and were canceled immediately after being issued.
The BoM is part of the Australian Joint Tsunami Warning Center (JATWC), which operates 24 hours a day to detect, monitor, verify and warn of any tsunami threats to Australia’s coastline and offshore territories.
