A false tsunami warning Friday triggered emergency sirens in Tofino and prompted the evacuation of area beaches, Mayor Josie Osborne said.
Emergency Management B.C. issued the alert in error as a result of maintenance to its warning system.
Osborne said Tofino acted on the alert immediately and fired off its two emergency sirens at Cox Bay Beach and North Chesterman Beach.
“I wasn’t at the beaches myself, but I understand that they were evacuated,” she said Friday afternoon.
“Now we have staff and fire department members down there letting everybody know that everything’s OK. A bit of a heart-racing moment for sure.”
Osborne said nobody wants false alarms, but she expressed appreciation that the issue was resolved quickly.
“Things like this can happen from time to time and it’s a really good reminder for all of us to be prepared.”
In Port Alberni, the city was initially suspicious of the alert because there was no companion warning from the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.
“So we didn’t react right away,” said Laurie L’Heureux, aquatics manager and former emergency program co-ordinator. “I called EMBC and found out right away it was a false alarm. We found out within two or three minutes.”
L’Heureux said the main concern with false alarms is that the public might become complacent.
“Things do happen, but we’d prefer they kept the alarms for the real thing,” she said. “We don’t want the public thinking, when it’s real: ‘Oh, it’s probably just another false alarm.’ ”
News organizations across B.C. also received the email warning which stated that “a large earthquake has occurred in the Pacific Basin near XXXX . . . At this time it is believed that a tsunami has been generated. The tsunami may impact low lying coastal areas in these zones. Local governments in these zones are urged to activate their emergency plans and immediately begin evacuation of identified areas at risk for tsunami impacts.”
Newsrooms received an update a few minutes later stating that the warning was sent in error due to maintenance work on the warning system.
“There is no threat to B.C. from a tsunami at this time,” the email said.
