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Northland is one of the parts of New Zealand already identified as most at risk from a tsunami.

Local authorities have been investigating tsunami risks in Northland for several years, however, their efforts were given extra impetus by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people throughout Asia.

Bruce Howse, the Northland Regional Council’s Coastal Monitoring Team Leader, says Northland is one of the parts of New Zealand already identified as most at risk from a tsunami.

Historic records indicate Northland’s east coast is likely to be exposed to a moderate (one-metre) tsunami generated off the South American coast approximately every 50 years.  However, a 2005 Central Government report warned Whangarei City could face dozens of fatalities and a multimillion dollar clean-up bill should a 4.5-metre tsunami strike, although that was estimated as a one-in-500 year event.

Mr Howse says about 40 people will gather at the Regional Council’s Whangarei head office tomorrow to discuss the latest information on tsunami risks and examine proposed computer modelling work commissioned by the Council.

Guest speakers include Christchurch-based tsunami expert Dr James Goff, from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and Wellington-based volcanologist Dr Graham Leonard, from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.

Workshop participants will include staff from local authorities, emergency services and key infrastructure providers. 

Mr Howse says the workshop will discuss a “tsunami inundation study” commissioned by the NRC last year.  The study will examine more than 30 Northland coastal communities over the next three years to try to shed light on the likely effects of both a moderate (one-in 50-year) and a large (one-in-500-year) tsunami.

Meanwhile, Mr Howse says workshop participants will also discuss ways the information to be gathered from the inundation study can be factored into local authority and emergency management planning.

“It’s intended that this information will be an invaluable tool to increase community preparedness for tsunami.”