Otago
Data kindly supplied by Port Otago Ltd.
| Time of arrival of first wave* | 18.4 h |
| Time of arrival of highest wave* | 53.2 h |
| Height of the highest wave | 265 mm |
| Period of the highest wave | 29 min |
* hours after the earthquake.
Commentary
The tsunami waves arrived here early (like Timaru, just to the north), but they were rather small. The tsunami excited the 25-minute seiche that appears to be a local coastal phenomenon. The seiche continued for many days, decaying only slowly. There is some evidence that the 80-minute seiche (which is a larger scale phenomenon) was also excited.
Figure 1. Sumatra tsunami at Otago showing:
A. long wave record;
B. height of each wave; and
C. period of each wave.
EQ denotes the time of the earthquake (12:59 on 26 December 2004, NZST),
TOA denotes time of arrival of first waves.
Figure 2. Sumatra tsunami at Otago showing:
A. long wave record;
B. significant (red) and maximum (blue) wave heights;
C. period of significant waves; and
D. distribution of significant wave height with time and period.
EQ denotes the time of the earthquake (12:59 on 26 December 2004, NZST).
How were these calculated?
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