Historic tsunami known to have affected the Southland coast and their effects are
listed in the Table 1 below:
Table 1:
Date
Early
1800s
Past Effects of Tsunamis with particular reference to the
Southland Coast.
Source
Otara/Waipapa
Te Waewae Bay17
Effects
“While they were indulging in a great cannibal feast, a huge tidal
wave came up from the sea and swept everything within radius
away…”i
“Many of the Maoris were engulfed and lost their lives.”2
“…this great tidal wave also swept over the Orepuki Beach and a
large party of Maoris who were journeying to the Waiau Mouth to
obtain food for the winter, were exterminated.”2
“…the largest and oldest village was Pahi’s kaika though it was
much reduced in numbers as forty of its people had drowned in
1823.”ii
“Added to the terrible war was the great catastrophe of the great
tidal wave which overwhelmed a whole tribe while they were
travelling on the beach from Colac to the Waiau Beach. It was at
Kaitangata Point that this tragedy occurred.” iii
13 August
1868
North
Chile Bluff – the tide set in with great strength, rose very rapidly, and
(Arica) Mag 9.016
attained its full (ordinary) height about 7 o’clock, three hours
before, the proper time of high water. From that period till after
noon it repeatedly rose and fell about 2 feet. It then set out with
great violence for about half an hour, when it resumed its ordinary
rate till low water, which took place about the usual time, and no
further disturbance has been observed. It was also observed at the
Pilot Station (which is outside the narrows) that the water had
been higher than ever known, while in the harbour it had only
attained the height of an ordinary spring tide.iv
Invercargill Estuary (New River Estuary) at Sandy Point –
When Mr Charles Rask was three years of age he underwent an
experience which he has never forgotten. This was a tidal wave
which threatened to destroy the home. He can vividly recall
standing on a table with the water encroaching into the room. The
natives living at Sandy Point all rushed to the highest hill, from
which they surveyed the vast volume of water the disturbance
caused to flood the land.v
Invercargill Estuary – In the New River estuary at about 8 am
on Saturday, the tide being then rather more than half flood, a
wave or “bore” variously estimated at from three to five feet,
entered the Heads and ran up as far as the jetty, giving an
appearance of ordinary high water. In about half an hour of the
“tide” turned and ebbed very rapidly for nearly an equal time.
Then a fresh wave set in with somewhat less velocity, and receded
as before. This was repeated at intervals until noon – the precise
Date
Source
Effects
number of times was not, however, noted.vi
“A series of most extraordinary phenomena occurred in the New
River estuary on Saturday last. During the forenoon the water was
observed to rise and fall three distinct times, sometimes with the
almost imperceptible ebb and flow of an ordinary tide, but on
other occasions with alarming and startling rapidity. The tide,
which was ebbing, seemed suddenly to turn, and rose quickly for
several feet, then changes as suddenly, and in a few minutes
receded a distance of, in some instances, 10 chains.
A boatman in coming up the harbour narrowly escaped being
capsized by a tidal wave, some two or three feet high, which rose
at a little distance, advanced with fearful velocity, and caught his
craft in its course. The same extraordinary tidal disturbances were
also experienced at the Bluff and at Riverton.”vii
Riverton – At Riverton (distant 20 miles) waves almost
simultaneously passed over the bar, and raised the water in the
Aparima estuary to a height of three feet above ordinary springtide mark.5
Waimatuku Mouth – Travellers on the beach between
Invercargill and Riverton were compelled to take to the high
ground – one gentleman (Mr Manson) driving along in a buggy
was surprised while crossing the Waimatuku by a sudden rise of
from two and a half to three feet.5
(This tsunami caused several deaths in the Chatham Islands)
10 May
1877
Northern
Mag 8.316
Chile Bluff – Waves were reported every hour between 9.00 am and 12
noon with fluctuations of 1.2-1.5 metres, “the tide has been
rushing in and out this morning in a most unusual manner, and at
a great rate. The vessels at the wharf were up at least four feet,
and down as much in a quarter of an hour”.7
Riverton – “ ….a succession of no less than seven tidal waves
rolled into Riverton Harbour between 7 and 12 o’clock yesterday.
At about 9 o’clock a wave, between three and four feet high, rolled
up the river and swung the Express away from her moorings,
carrying away her funnel and mainmast, and bringing the vessel
nearer the north bank. Before the wave struck her decks were dry,
and the men were about to commence pumping her out. Capt.
Russell, who has been unfortunate throughout in the lifting of the
sunken steamer, received rather a damper yesterday, when, after
surmounting the numerous drawbacks and mishaps he had to
contend with, got his vessel in a position by which, barring
accidents she would have been afloat last evening, he saw her
again part from her fastenings, and once more submerged.”11
Halfmoon Bay, Stewart Island – “Capt Traill reports after the
recent tidal wave receded in Halfmoon Bay, a large fish of a
species hitherto unknown even by the oldest inhabitant on the
island, was left high and dry on the beach. Traill describes it as
Date
Source
Effects
…”14
28 Aug
1883
Krakatau (often 30 metre tsunami caused by the explosion of the Krakatau
referred to as volcanoe killed about 36,000 people in Indonesia. Waves of
Krakatoa)
an unknown height recorded at Bluff.15
Volcano
22 May
1960
Southern Chile
Mag 9.516
Bluff – The tide regularly rose and fell practically every half hour
on 24 May, “superimposed on the regular rise and fall of the tide
every six hours. At one stage, between 12.15 pm and 3.00 pm,
when it would be normal slack water, the tide rose and fell seven
times.
About 4.30 pm, when a six knot tide was running out of the
harbour, the inflow from the tidal wave was sufficient to stop the
normal ebb tide.
The waves have been regularly pounding through Foveaux at half
hourly intervals, with the normal waves superimposed on this. It
was only the narrow entrance to the Port that kept the rise and fall
down to about six inches” (0.15 metres).5
Colac Bay – “Tide surges hit Colac bay in the early hours of
Tuesday,” (24 May) “Morning … The beach road and the high
ground across the road is now littered with debris and gravel from
the beach. In some places, the debris is a foot deep.”5
Fortrose – “Waves … were bigger than usual about 5.00 pm
yesterday …” (24 May).5
Stewart Island – “… there were erratic tides and a heavy rise and
fall. The disturbance at Stewart Island was apparently at its worst
during the night …”5
Debris and kelp was left at an exceptionally high level on the
foreshore. At high tide on Tuesday,” (24 May) “about 12.15 pm
there was still evidence of a heavy tide range. At the height of
each range the main wharf decking was only about two feet from
the water. The tide ebbed erratically, falling five feet and rising
four.”5
(Taken from the 25 May 1960 Edition of The Southland Times)
“A fishing vessel, the Girl Isobel, marooned in an arm of Port
Pegasus harbour at Stewart Island by tidal waves for five days,
made a successful run for the open sea this morning.”8
25 May
1981
Macquarie Islands Campbell Island - 0.3 m wave 9
Earthquake Mag
8.2
Bluff - approximately 0.10 m wave
25 March
1998
Balleny Islands
(Antarctica)
Dog Island Sea Level Recorder 0.15 m oscillation10
Date
23 June
2001
22 Aug
2003
24 Dec
2004
28 Dec
2004
2 April
2007
30 Sept
2007
15 July
2009
1 October
2009
7 Oct
2009
27 Feb
2010
12/13
March
2011
6
February
2013
2 April
2014
13 April
2014
Source
Effects
Earthquake Mag
7.9
Southern
Peru, Bluff (South Port) Sea Level Recorder: a few 0.1-0.15 metre
Mag 8.4
waves. Dog Island – similar to Bluff.
Invercargill Estuary Stead Street Water Level Recorder: no
evidence of a Tsunami recorded.
Doubtful Sound, Localised earthquake induced landslide tsunami of 4-5m in Charles
Fiordland, Mag 7.2 Sound and a wider seabed deformation induced tsunami Jackson
Bay 0.3m and Port Kembla, Australia 0.17m15
North Macquarie Dog Island, 0.2m, Bluff, just detectible
Island, Mag 8
Sumatra, Mag 9.0
200,000+ killed in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Dog Island, 0.35m, Bluff, 0.1-0.15m, Stead St, 0.15m waves at
high tide.
Santa
Cruz No significant effects measured in Southland. Jackson Bay,
Islands, Solomon 0.84m fluctuation
Islands, Mag 8.1
Auckland Islands, Dog Island, several 0.2-0.5m fluctuations in water level, Green
Mag 7.4
Island (Dunedin), 0.1-0.15m
Dusky
Sound, Up to 2.3m local waves in parts of Dusky Sound. Wildly
Fiordland, Mag 7.8 fluctuating water levels and strong currents reported by boats
anchored in sheltered coves.12
Jackson Bay 0.98m, Dog Island 0.39m, Bluff Harbour 0.1m,
Stead St 0.14m.13
Samoa, Mag 8.0
Almost 200 killed on the southern shores of Western and
American Samoa.
Jackson Bay 0.61m, Green Island (Dunedin) 0.21m, Stead St
Vanuatu, Mag 7.6
No significant effects measured in Southland
Southern
Chile, Dog Island 0.55m, Bluff 0.2m, Stead St 0.02m. Sea level
Mag 8.8
variations measured for at least 48 hours
Tohuku
Massive tsunami in Japan, 15,000+ killed.
Earthquake, Japan, Milford Sound, 0.28m, Stead St Wharf, Invercargill Estuary
Mag 9.0
0.17m, Dog Island 0.24m, Puysegur Point 0.47m. Sea level
variations measured for at least 48 hours.
Santa
Cruz No observed or measured tsunami effects in Southland and only
Islands, Solomon very minor recorded effect on one or two Northern NZ tsunami
Islands, Mag 8.0
gauges.
North
Chile Perceptible but difficult to quantify water level fluctuations
(95km NW of apparent on sea level plots from Bluff and Puysegur Point. 0.2
Iquique) – Mag 8.2 metre fluctuation at Green Island but nothing significant at Dog
Island. See A128378 for a detailed report.
SE of Solomon No Recorded effects in NZ
Islands Mag 7.6,
depth 33km
i
McIntosh, Joan: “From Wasteland to Wealth, Otara 1960”
ii
Richards, Rhys: Murihiku Reviewed – A Revised History of the Southern New
Zealand from 1804-1844”
iii
Saunders, Millie (Wanderer): “The Conquerors, Saga of the Stations”: Southland
Times, 17 February 1934
iv
Southland United Council : “Southland Regional Planning Scheme, Draft Section
IV, Natural Hazards, Background Papers 1987”
v
Recollections of Charles Rask published in The Southland Times (date unknown).
Note: Charles Rask was born in 1865 and died in 1933. As such, it was 1868 when
he was three years old, so the event he refers to was probably the 1868 tsunami.
vi
vii
The Southland Times, 20 August 1868
The Southland Times, 17 August 1868
7
The Southland Times, 14 May 1877
8
The Southland Daily News, 28 May 1960
9
De Lange, Willem and Fraser, Rodger: “Tsunami Hazard in New Zealand”:
Tephra October 1999
10
De Lange, Willem and Bell, Robert: “Tsunami Risk From the Southern Flank”:
Balleny Islands Earthquake, NIWA Water and Atmosphere 6(3) 1998
11
The Western Star, Saturday 12 May 1877
12
Wilson, Kate, Turnbull, Ian, Litchfield, Nicola “Coastal deformation and tsunami
deposit obserbvations following the July 15 2009 MW 7.8 Dusky Sound
earthquake” GNS Science Report 2009/46, August 2009.
13
Prasetya, Gegar & ors, “Evaluation of the 15 July 2009 Fiordland, New Zealand
Tsunami in the Source Region” Pure and Applied Geophysics, 22 February
2011.
14
The Western Star, July 2009
15
Geonet Website
16
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration) National Geophysical
Data Center / World Data Center (NGDC/WDC) Global Historical Tsunami
Database,
Boulder,
CO,
USA.
Available
at
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazard/tsu_db.shtml
17
Downes, G., Cochran, U., and ors “Understanding local source tsunami: 1820’s
Southland tsunami” Geological & Nuclear Sciences/NIWA, November 2005.