February 21, 2011 Tsunami: South Island, New Zealand
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake and a landslide began at South Island, New Zealand on February 21, 2011 at 23:51:42 UTC. The water rose as high as 3.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 185 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
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
- February 21, 2011, 23:51:42 UTC
- Source
- South Island, New Zealand
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6.1, 6 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 3.5 m (11.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 1
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Questionable tsunami
- Source location
- 43.583° S, 172.680° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 185 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 1,500 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $15 billion with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 100,000 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Tour guides at the Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps say the quake caused the ice to "calve" from the glacier, forming icebergs in the terminal lake. Tourists of Glacier Explorer boats say the icefall caused waves of up to 3.5 meters in height which swept up and down the lake for 30 minutes. (reference #9293)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tasman Lake | New Zealand | 202 | 3.5 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 2011The 2000sTsunamis of New ZealandThe earthquakeThis 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 5407.