Another large earthquake has hit New Zealand.

A 7.5 earthquake hit the South Island, at Cheviot near Christchurch, just after midnight. Multiple quakes have since followed in both islands.

Talkback Radio has been hot on the topic of alerting, or more to the point, the lack thereof.

This week we are beginning a campaign to promote the use of TSUNADO as the best method of alerting the public when such disasters occur. This was in response to MCDEM issuing a statement that they were only supporting systems based on the cellular network. TSUNADO disagrees with this approach, as it was an option written off early on in the development of the TSUNADO System as being too fragile, to unreliable, and too costly.

Watch this site for more details.

Innovative Partnership in Emergency Management and Public Alerting

CLOUD M and Tsunado NZ are delighted to announce a new joint approach to public alerting solutions which will see the development of an innovative relationship to help promote resilience and safety for all New Zealanders.  

CLOUD M built and delivered the Auckland Civil Defence & Emergency Management (CDEM) alerting platform and native mobile phone application (Alerter) with in excess of 50,000 registered users.  This has been successfully operational for the last two years and is currently being considered for national use. Alerter helps the CDEM agency alert the public of emergencies, keeping them informed of emergency response, and helps prepare them to cope during a disaster. It also helps the public take care of themselves and each other. It connects close friends and loved ones in a secure, private network, and helps households develop and manage household emergency plans. 

Tsunado NZ has developed a unique public alerting system known as TSUNADO, which has been built to provide geo-targeted alerts across the country, using satellite and FM radio to distribute the alerts.  TSUNADO  continues to receive information even when there is no power, mobile or internet availability.   

The system uses simple, unobtrusive Alert Radios  placed in the home, which sound a warning (similar in loudness to a smoke detector).  The Alert Radios display a text message to the user, and then automatically connect to an audio feed from a local radio or satellite TV station to provide further information.  With inbuilt rechargeable batteries, authorized information is able to be continually received for up to five days after an emergency event.The TSUNADO devices replace the need for a battery operated radio, which is an essential component of every recommended emergency survival kit.

Read more: Innovative Partnership in Emergency Management and Public Alerting

On September 3rd, 2015 an earthquake, 7.1 in magnitude, 130km north-east of Te Araroa at a depth of 55km at 4.37am - was felt from Northland to Wellington in the North Island, and in the top of the South Island. Severe reports were felt in Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty.

The earthquake prompted a large response from Civil Defence. Tsunami waves measuring 30 cm were picked up at Gisborne port and the gauge at East Cape.

There were numerous complaints that people did not hear any warning, or that the delays in issuing warning were unacceptable.

As usual, Civil Defence advised people to seek higher ground, and take a radio with them.

TSUNADO Alert Radios have the capability to not only provide news and information from local radio stations, but be activated to sound an alarm that will wake anyone in the house during the night, or above the usual noise of everyday life.

Because the turn on automatically when there is news to be delivered,  TSUNADO Alert Radios have a battery life of 5 to 10 days.

In remote regions such as East Cape, the signals can be delivered via the Optus D1 Satellite used by both Sky Television and Kordia (Freeview). This ensures 100% coverage to all regions of New Zealand.

For more information, please contact Rhys Greensill ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or Gary Benner ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).