Tsunami from Russian Far East hit New Zealand

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23 November 2006

In November 2006 a tsunami generated up in Kuril Islands in Russia’s Far East affected parts of New Zealand. The source was a large magnitude 8.3 earthquake late on 15 November 2006 (23:14 NZST). It occurred on the subduction zone near the Kuril Islands which lie between Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

The journey of over 9600 km for the initial wave took just over 14 hours to reach the Bay of Plenty and Chatham Islands – longer for South Island locations. That is an average speed of about 685 km/hr.

Tsunami waves were recorded by several sea level gauges including those at Timaru, Lyttelton, Sumner Head (Christchurch), Kaikoura, and Kaingaroa on the Chatham Islands. The gauges are operated by NIWA, Port of Timaru and the Port of Lyttelton.

The largest wave heights recorded here in New Zealand were 0.56 metres on Chatham Islands on 16 November, and 0.58 metres at Timaru on 18 November. Most people think of a tsunami as something which is over reasonably quickly, but that is not always the case. This most recent tsunami affected New Zealand for 3–4 days as waves bounced off undersea ridges (e.g., Chatham Rise) and moved to and fro along indented sections of the coast. This explains why the highest waves at Timaru and Lyttelton occurred just over 40 hours after the first wave arrived in New Zealand waters.

Around the Pacific, the tsunami impact was greatest at Crescent City in northern California, where a peak wave height of 1.76 metres caused strong surging currents, damaging docks and boats in a marina.

New Zealand was never in any real danger even though this was a large earthquake. The subduction zone in the Kuril Islands is orientated to beam more directly at Hawaii, US Pacific coast, and Central America.

Background

  1. Information from the US Geological Service
  2. Associated Press story + ABC7 (US TV) video clip
  3. The graph below shows the tsunami measured at four New Zealand sea level gauges. The tide has been removed to isolate the tsunami waves. Data from Timaru are supplied by the Port of Timaru, while the other sites are NIWA gauges. ‘EQ’ marks the time of the earthquake in the Kuril Islands.
  4. To put the travel speed of the tsunami in context, the maximum cruising speeds of planes in the Air New Zealand fleet are as follows:
    • Saab340A 460 km/hr
    • Beech1900D 510 km/hr
    • ATR72 518 km/hr
    • BombardierQ300 520 km/hr
    • Boeing 737-300 790 km/hr
    • Airbus A320-200 850 km/hr
    • Boeing 767-300ER 870 km/hr
    • Boeing 777-200ER 910 km/hr
    • Boeing 747-400 920 km/hr

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