November 11, 2009 Tsunami: Southwest Australia
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at Southwest Australia on November 11, 2009. The water rose as high as 0.48 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
The tsunami
- Date
- November 11, 2009
- Source
- Southwest Australia
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Maximum water height
- 0.48 m (1.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this tsunami.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
A severe thunderstorm occurred along the south‐west Australian coast in the early morning of 12 November 2009. The propagating pressure jump was associated with a squall line and was accompanied by strong (10–20 ms-1) wind gusts. The jump in sea level atmospheric pressure originated north of Geraldton, traveled to the southeast, and crossed the coast between Bunbury and Busselton […] The resulting meteotsunami was recorded with different wave heights and waveforms on coastal tide gauges between Geraldton and Albany. (reference #14196)
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bunbury | Australia | 0.48 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Port Geographe (Busselton) | Australia | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | ||||
| Mandurah | Australia | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 2009The 2000sTsunamis of AustraliaThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 6064.