Start of daylight saving prompts tsunami siren testing
Sunday (September 26) marks the beginning of daylight saving and is the day for testing of Christchurch's coastal tsunami sirens.
People near the coast should expect to hear tsunami sirens sounds for up to two minutes at 11am on Sunday.
“People shouldn’t be alarmed to hear the sirens going off and don’t need to evacuate," Christchurch City Council
acting head of Civil Defence and Emergency Management Rebecca Newton says.
"The testing of the sirens though is a good reminder to people in coastal and riverside areas that they should have an evacuation plan in place so that everyone in the family knows what to do and where to go if there is a tsunami evacuation.
“While we are likely to get advanced warning of a distance-source tsunami triggered by a large earthquake overseas, if a tsunami is triggered by a very large earthquake closer to New Zealand people may need to evacuate quickly so they should have an emergency bag at the ready."
In the event of a local or regional source tsunami, there may not be enough time to activate the warning sirens. In those circumstances, the most important warning is the earthquake itself, which is why people are encouraged to adhere to the national tsunami message – ‘Long or strong, get gone’, Newton says.
People can check Christchurch City Council's interactive online map to find out if by they live or work in a tsunami evacuation zone.
🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Do you think you know the answer?
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Poll: Canterbury is thriving on paper... but are you seeing evidence of Canterbury's improving economy?
As reported in the Press, Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman recently gave a shout-out to our region, calling Canterbury a "stand-out" for how we recover from tough times. With tech firms growing and exporters investing, the business side of things is looking bright!
👉 But we know that "business growth" doesn't always mean the weekly shop gets any cheaper. While the city expands, many families feel like they’re just trying to keep their heads above water.
We want to know: With the business buzz of 2026, do you feel like things are finally looking up for your household, or does it still feel like a climb?
-
17.4% Yes
-
58.7% No
-
23.9% In some areas ...
Loading…