Whangarei
Data kindly supplied by Mulgor Consulting Ltd. and Silver Fern Shipping Ltd.
| Time of arrival of first wave* | 24.5 h |
| Time of arrival of highest wave* | 52.5 h |
| Height of the highest wave | 255 mm |
| Period of the highest wave | 37 min |
* hours after the earthquake.
Commentary
The tsunami waves had periods of around 40 minutes, but the long-wave event that started late on 30 December (and was larger than the tsunami) had waves with periods of just a few minutes. Hence, it was more likely a meteorologically-generated event. These occur every few weeks.
Figure 1. Sumatra tsunami at Whangarei 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 Whangarei 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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