Only a third of the 5.8 million mobile phones in New Zealand are capable of receiving a message testing the national Emergency Mobile Alert system tonight.
According to Civil Defence, "it is a lot less than expected."
It is recommended by Civil Defence that mobile phone software is up to date to be able to receive the warning.
The scheduled alert was originally planned for April 2018, but due to conflicting information on a possible tsunami risk, it was moved forward to this evening.
The alert noise is meant to be "unique" to anything people have heard before - a loud, penetrating sound.
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