In the media tsunamis are often described as being either local, regional or distant. This section provides some definitions for these terms to help you understand their meaning.
Local tsunami
These are tsunami with less than 1 hour travel time to the nearest New Zealand coastline, noting that many travel times are less than 30 minutes and some travel times are as short as a few minutes.
Regional tsunami
These are tsunami with 1–3 hours travel time to the nearest New Zealand coastline.
Distant tsunami
These are tsunami with more than 3 hours of travel time to the nearest New Zealand coastline e.g. Chile tsunami 2010.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more contact your local civil defence office by following the weblinks below:
Waikato Valley Civil Defence
Thames Valley Civil Defence
Taupo Civil Defence
Waikato Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Office
Tsunami brochure (406kb PDF)
Back to main tsunami page