A number of people have been asking why the emergency alert message sent by Civil Defence at 10:15pm on 11 August was either received late by some Vodafone customers or not at all. Here is information about what occurred:

• The National Emergency Management Agency administers the Emergency Mobile Alert system, and is aware of reports that some mobile phones which should have received the alert sent at 10:15pm did not. The message was broadcast nationally so should have been received by Emergency Mobile Alert-capable phones.

• Vodafone has confirmed with Civil Defence that due to an unrelated technology upgrade occurring at the same time, which was planned before the alert level 3 announcement, some customers did not receive the message. The nationwide alert was successfully sent again at 6:55am this morning to ensure all New Zealanders with an Emergency Mobile Alert-capable smartphone receive this important message.

• Civil Defence has confirmed that based on the results of the November 2019 nationwide test, they expect four in five mobile phones should be capable of receiving Emergency Mobile Alerts. Previous broadcasts using the system have been successful. Civil Defence encourages people to stay informed through a range of channels, such as social media, websites, radio, television and online media.