Dunedin civil defence and emergency management experts' ability to respond to a tsunami will be put to the test tomorrow as part of a national exercise.
More than 100 agencies nationwide will take part in Exercise Tangaroa, which will test the newly updated national tsunami advisory and warning plan.
The revised plan makes use of new scientific modelling from GNS Science that allows for distinct threat warnings to be issued for 43 coastal zones.
"Previously, we have not had the science to give this important regional detail," Civil Defence emergency management director John Hamilton said.
"It is a good example of how science can help response to an emergency."
Exercise Tangaroa - named for the god of the sea, rivers, lakes and all life within them - will begin with a simulated Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre alert that a major tsunami may have been created by an earthquake off the coast of South America.
National warnings, clearly labelled as simulation messages, will be issued by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management to the National Crisis Management Centre beneath the Beehive and agencies throughout the country.
Participants include all 16 regional civil defence emergency management groups, most local authorities, central government departments, emergency services, scientific agencies, welfare organisations, utilities, the transport sector and some media.
The exercise will end when the "tsunami" reaches New Zealand at 7pm.
Dunedin City Council civil defence and rural fire manager Neil Brown said staff did not know what to expect or when to expect it, but the public would most likely not be involved.
The extent of Dunedin's involvement in the exercise depended on the extent of the simulated Tsunami that was to "hit" the city.
