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Sunday morning test for tsunami sirens

Brad Christensen

You may be out of luck if you were hoping for a sleep in this weekend.

The Christchurch City Council will run tests on the tsunami sirens in Brooklands and Taylor's Mistake for three minutes around 11 o'clock on Sunday morning.

The city council's Head of Civil Defence Alicia Palmer said the testing is "a good reminder to make sure you and your family have an evacuation plan and essential supplies at the ready in case you need to leave in a hurry."

Palmer said people in coastal areas would likely get several hours of warning if a tsunami was triggered by an earthquake overseas but they might not have much time to evacuate if the tsunami was triggered by a large earthquake off the coast of New Zealand. 

If the sirens last for more than 10 minutes on Sunday, then it is no longer a drill and residents should evacuate.