Civil Defence Minister John Carter is pleased with the way the tsunami alert system worked and is praising the media for the part it played."It's gone very well and I'm very pleased," he told NZPA."It's a huge step up from where we've been.
Civil Defence Minister John Carter is pleased with the way the tsunami alert system worked and is praising the media for the part it played.
"It's gone very well and I'm very pleased," he told NZPA.
"It's a huge step up from where we've been."
Mr Carter said the first advice was received about 9pm Saturday and the alert system went into action at 11.30pm.
"Civil defence structures in the regions, along with the police, the fire service and the coastguard, and other authorities, all responded particularly well," he said.
"I guess the most pleasing aspect is that the memorandum of understanding with the media worked spectacularly."
Mr Carter said he wanted to thank the media for the part it played.
"My message is `thanks for all the support you've given, you're an integral part of it and you really have played your part. It's been great'," he said.
Mr Carter said public reaction to the alert had been generally very responsible.
"That's pleasing. We of course always get the odd one or two who want to put their boats out or go down to watch but in the main the public have been very responsible and I'm very pleased the messages were getting through," he said.
"People are aware of how dangerous these things can be and that when we say there is an event, they need to listen."
Mr Carter, speaking after the tsunami warning had been scaled down to an advisory, said the country came through it without loss of life or injury, and without damage to structures.
"My message for people is that we do have a world-class civil defence structure, we have a media that are very good and willing to play their part, but the first port of call is the individual.
"The first responsibility is with the individual, their family, friends and neighbours, and the community.
"We still have to work hard to make sure that people understand that when an alert is issued, or there is an issue, that they need to be able to know what to do and how to respond."
Mr Carter faced severe criticism over the last tsunami warning, which ran into problems although it turned out to be a false alarm.
He said yesterday that during that time the civil defence structure generally worked well, the weak point had been the way it worked with the media.
"We did have a memorandum of understanding with the media but there were some significant gaps in it," he said.
"We've worked to plug those gaps, we now have a very good communication structure with the media and that's why it has been a success.
"Having put it in place, it worked well when it was called on."
