Auckland Civil Defence tsunami response

Auckland Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) has largely stood down from monitoring this morning’s tsunami threat.

Head of Emergency Management Operations Aaron Davis says while the team has wrapped up most of its monitoring efforts, it is on standby if required.

“There may still be aftershocks being experienced in the East Cape area however most of the impacts have settled down here in the Auckland region.

“We may still see some unusual currents and wave action but things have largely returned to normal,” says Mr Davis.

While there was a potential threat to our region, it was assessed early on by our team as being unlikely to have a significant impact, with no evacuations required, and this turned out to be the case.

Auckland Director Civil Defence and Emergency Management John Dragicevich says Aucklanders responded well to the threat.

“Disaster situations present us with a lot of unknown circumstances and decisions need to be made quickly.

“We commend Aucklanders on their patience this morning with disruptions to their Friday morning and remind them to make sure they’re prepared for emergency situations such as this,” says Mr Dragicevich.

We have received several queries over the day about public alerting through the Red Cross Hazards app.

It is our intention to only use this alerting tool when we want you to stop, take note, and carry out some immediate action.

This morning’s activation is a good reminder for people to ensure they know what to do in an emergency:

• Check the tsunami evacuation maps for your area, so you know if you live or work in an evacuation zone.

• If you are in an evacuation zone, think about how you will get to higher ground.

• Sign up for public alerting emails and text messages on our website

• Visit getthru.govt.nz to find out how to best prepare your household for an emergency.

ENDS

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