The Christchurch City Council has confirmed that a planned tsunami siren test over the weekend failed due to human error—not a fault with the technology.

Head of Community Support and Partnerships John Filsell told Chris Lynch Media that the issue was not with the sirens themselves, but with the process.

He said, “The tsunami siren test failed due to human error, rather than a problem with the siren technology itself. Safeguards are being put in place to reduce the risk of this happening again in the future.”

“There will be another test of the sirens scheduled in the next couple of weeks. We will be communicating this widely, once a date has been confirmed,” Filsell said.

The Council is also undertaking a broader review into the role of sirens in the city’s tsunami warning system.