Five emergency warning sirens that failed to work either during Saturday's tsunami scare or during Monday's monthly test were not working again yesterday during a special test. But three of the malfunctioning sirens were quickly fixed.

The other two — at Sunset Beach and Mā'ili Point — were found to be damaged and will have to be repaired, said state Civil Defense spokesman Shelly Ichishita.

In all, technicians with state Civil Defense looked at 12 sirens, and the city Department of Emergency Management inspected four others that were reported to have problems.

Two sirens ended up just needing new fuses, and a third only had to have a switch turned back on.

"These sirens were checked based on reports we got on Saturday and over the weekend of sirens not being heard or not sounding at all," Ichishita said.

The monthly siren tests are designed to ensure that the sirens are operating at full power and can be heard at optimal range.

State Civil Defense funds the purchase and installation of the sirens on O'ahu.

Once installed, the city is responsible for monthly testing and emergency activation.