Tsunami warning sirens across Kenai Peninsula were false alarm, National Tsunami Warning Center says

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - People on the Kenai Peninsula were jolted by the sound of tsunami warning sirens on Thursday morning in what the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center says was a false alarm.

Alaska’s News Source viewers in both Homer and Seward called the station saying there were sirens going off and residents were getting to higher ground.

“There is NO TSUNAMI threat for Alaska. We are aware of an erroneous tsunami warning that is leading to sirens sounding in some communities. Please disregard; we have not issued a tsunami warning,” the Tsunami Warning Center tweeted.

The National Weather Service is reviewing how the warning was erroneously issued.

“An internal test message was issued around 8:30 am. The message was clearly marked as a test message,” National Weather Service forecaster Joe Wegman said. “We are still evaluating what caused this message to activate the sirens.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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