December 2, 2025 Tsunami: North Island, New Zealand
A tsunami of meteorological origin began at North Island, New Zealand on December 2, 2025. The water rose as high as 0.25 meters. Its effects were recorded at 4 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
- December 2, 2025
- Source
- North Island, New Zealand
- Cause
- Meteorological
- Maximum water height
- 0.25 m (0.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 4
- 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.
Last week as a powerful weather front swept across the upper North Island, our 24/7 eyes-on team at the National Geohazards Monitoring Centre noticed something unusual. Tsunami gauges along the East Coast and even in Lake Taupo started showing strange signals. With no earthquake to blame, they alerted our tsunami experts panel who quickly pieced together the puzzle: these readings were likely the signature of a small meteotsunami, triggered by the intense weather […] Chris Brandolino from our Earth Sciences NZ weather team about the weather and he commented: “From Tuesday afternoon and right through Wednesday we have seen waves of active thunderstorms moving across the upper North Island. This included offshore from Coromandel early Wednesday morning and it’s almost certain that the minor tsunami activity detected nearby is related.” (reference #14254)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Napier | New Zealand | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 2, 18:00 | |||
| Whakamoenga (Lake Taupo) | New Zealand | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 2, 15:00 | ||||
| Castle Point | New Zealand | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||||
| Gisborne | New Zealand | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 2025The 2000sTsunamis of New ZealandThis 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 6089.