Concerns raised on why tsunami sirens did not work this morning

People residing in the Suva and Lami areas are concerned why they could not hear the tsunami sirens early this morning after the Fiji Seismology Department stated there was a tsunami threat to Fiji from about 2am.

The release was sent out after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake occurred about 525km West North West from Noumea, New Caledonia after 1am.

We received calls from areas including Laucala Beach, Vatuwaqa, Delainavesi, Qauia and Cunningham, and some calls came from Nadi and Lautoka as they did not hear the tsunami warning sirens.

Minister for Disaster Management, Inia Seruiratu says the Mineral Resources Department is the agency that provides information to the National Disaster Management Office but people must understand that this came during an odd time and people would not be able to know if the information is passed through the mechanism in place.

Seruiratu says they always do a monthly testing and if the sirens are faulty they should not be blamed.

When we questioned the Minister if there are sirens in other parts of the country and if there is a plan to install them in these areas, Seruiratu confirms that the tsunami sirens are not all over the country but training is being conducted and people have been identified to control the movements should there be a warning.

We will have more on this later today.