Civil Defence tsunami review detailed

People at Mount Maunganui watch the sea after warnings of a tsunami. Photo / Alan Gibson

An external review of Civil Defence's response to the Samoan tsunami threat will focus on the distribution of public information and the clarity of the messages.

The emergency response body issued a tsunami warning about an hour after the 8.3 magnitude quake struck near Samoa early in the morning on September 30.

Civil Defence was criticised following the tsunami threat for conflicting public reports and not advising some important utilities.

Civil Defence Minister John Carter released the terms of reference for the external independent review today.

The ministry will also conduct its own internal review.

Former Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Simon Murdoch will lead the independent review which was expected to report back by the end of October.

The terms of reference said it would identify key issues in public information management to identify what worked well and where improvements could be made.

The focus would be on;

* The development and distribution of public information messages by the National Crisis Management Centre;

* Clarity, timeliness and content of warnings, advisories and messages;

* Use of information and distribution of warnings, advisories and messages at the local level;

* Distribution of public information messages by the news media;

* Responding and managing requests for media information and the timeliness of media engagement;

* Communications with minister and other Government agencies;

* The source of the expert advice relied on;

* Any other issues the reviewer considers relevant to the handling of public information during the event;

Mr Carter said there were "clearly some issues" in the way information was communicated during the alert.

The overall response was "generally good", he said.

The response during a subsequent tsunami alert on October 8 was better showing lessons had been learnt, Mr Carter said.

"It is critically important that New Zealanders have confidence in our civil defence arrangements.

"This review will help ensure New Zealand has the best possible civil defence and emergency management systems and support in place," he said.

- NZPA