30/07/2025
Thanks to everyone who followed the advice in the recent Emergency Mobile Alerts and has been keeping away from the beach and marine areas after yesterday's magnitude 8.8 earthquake near Russia.
The alerts were sent to all coastal areas in New Zealand. If you were inland when the alert was issued and then moved into a coastal area while it was still being broadcast, you would have received it later.
The threat for New Zealand's coast is likely to remain in place until midday. Stay safe everyone!
We've been receiving a ton of feedback on the Emergency Mobile Alert system and we are aware that some people received an additional alert in the early hours this morning. We are looking into why this happened and are sorry to anyone that was woken up by it.
Check out below for an explainer on some of our other frequently asked questions! Give us a feedback at https://www.research.net/r/EMA-feedback or check out our troubleshooting tips at getready.govt.nz/troubleshooting
📱Why do you send Emergency Mobile Alerts?
Emergency Mobile Alerts are messages about emergencies. They will only be sent when there are serious threats to life, health or property (and, in some cases, for test purposes). They've been used for everything from tsunami warnings to dangerous fires to thunderstorms.
We made the call to send out another emergency alert this morning to remind New Zealanders, especially if they're on route to work, school or other activities, to avoid being near the coast because that is where the main threat is.
📱Why did I get so many alerts?
Alerts use cell broadcast technology known as geotargeting to send alerts through cell towers in a selected area. There was a technical glitch in the early hours this morning, which meant that some people received some extra alerts. We are looking into why this happened and are sorry to anyone that was woken up by it.
You may also get an additional alert if your phone moved from a 3G to a 4G network during the time of the broadcast. The same thing would have happened if you turned flight mode on and off. Or turned your phone off and back on during the broadcast period.
And some phones have an optional alert reminder feature turned on. This can cause the phone to alarm repeatedly during the broadcast. If your phone has an alert reminder, you can find it in your phone settings. The settings might be called Wireless Alerts, Broadcast Alerts, or Emergency Alerts.
📱My message disappeared, how can I read it?
If you received an Emergency Mobile Alert, you might still be able to find it on your phone. For Android phones, each Android phone is different. But emergency alerts are generally found in your 'Messages' app. For iPhone users, the alert will be in your notifications. Access your notifications by swiping down from the top of your screen. If you delete your notifications, you will also delete the alert.
📱How do I opt out of Emergency Mobile Alerts?
As Emergency Mobile Alert is about keeping you safe, you won’t be able to opt out. We do not target specific phones, instead we broadcast to a targeted area that is at risk. For this reason, we cannot exclude your specific phone.
Your phone may show optional settings used in other countries. But in New Zealand we will use a special broadcast channel that is always on.
📱Why is the noise so alarming?
The sound used for Emergency Mobile Alert is based on an international standard. While it can be frightening or annoying, it was chosen to get your attention as it is unpleasant to the human ear.