NIWA was engaged by the combined councils of Northland Regional Council, Auckland Regional Council, Environment Waikato and Environment Bay of Plenty to undertake a tsunami source investigation.
The initial aim of the project was to identify the three most significant tsunami sources for the combined region. During the investigation process it was decided to expand this to four. Based upon available data, the identified sources included a distant one from South American, distant/regional tsunamis from the Solomon Sea and New Hebrides areas, a subduction zone event along the Tonga-Kermadec Trench, and selected local sources. The local sources investigated included those from the Bay of Plenty which have been previously published and some poorly-defined ones north and east of the North Island that may explain traces in the palaeotsunami record.
The report discusses the general settings for each source and presents results for the areas encompassed by the four regional councils: Northland, Auckland, Environment Waikato, and Environment Bay of Plenty.
Find out what a tsunami is and what we are doing to prepare for managing one if it does happen: www.nrc.govt.nz/tsunami
Published: 07 Aug 2006