Tsunami evacuation zones and warnings

Tsunami evacuation zones

Tsunami evacuation zones are areas we recommend people evacuate if they feel a long (more than a minute) or strong (hard to stand up) earthquake, or in an official tsunami warning. They encompass many different possible tsunami scenarios, including large, rare tsunamis. The location of zone boundaries considers factors such as where schools or aged care facilities are, and they often follow roads or other obvious landmarks so that the zones can be easily communicated.

Our tsunami evacuation zones are coloured red, orange, and yellow. Search your address or location of interest in the map below to see if you'll need to evacuate after a long or strong earthquake, or during an official tsunami warning.

View full tsunami evacuation zone map

You can find tsunami evacuation zones and what they mean for other parts of New Zealand on the National Tsunami Evacuation Zone Map. 

Learn more about the red, orange and yellow evacuation zones

Red tsunami evacuation zone

You should leave this zone immediately if you:

feel a long (more than a minute) or strong (hard to stand up) earthquake, OR
see a sudden rise or fall in sea level, OR
are beside a lake shore, OR
hear loud or unusual noises from the sea (like a jet plane or train), OR
are told to evacuate by Civil Defence Emergency Management or emergency services.

Stay out of this zone until you are told it is safe to return.

The red tsunami evacuation zone includes beaches, estuaries, lagoons, harbours and river mouths and lake shores. They are the areas most likely to be affected by a tsunami and would experience the highest water depths and strongest currents.

Orange tsunami evacuation zone

You should leave this zone immediately if you:

feel a long (more than a minute) or strong (hard to stand up) earthquake, OR
see a sudden rise or fall in sea level, OR
are near a lake shore, OR
hear loud or unusual noises from the sea (like a jet plane or train), OR
are told to evacuate by Civil Defence Emergency Management or emergency services.

Stay out of this zone until you are told it is safe to return.

The orange tsunami evacuation zone includes low-lying coastal areas that may be flooded by a large tsunami that inundates land and lake shores.

Yellow tsunami evacuation zone

You don't need to leave this zone if you feel a long or strong earthquake. You only need to leave the yellow evacuation zone if you are told to by Civil Defence Emergency Management or emergency services in an official tsunami warning. There are no known local-source tsunamis that would flood this area.

Stay out of this zone until you are told it is safe to return.

The yellow tsunami evacuation zone includes areas that may be flooded in a rare, very large tsunami coming from across the Pacific Ocean.

In most other parts of Aotearoa/New Zealand, you must evacuate all zones (including yellow) if you feel a long or strong earthquake.

No tsunami evacuation zone

If you are not in a tsunami evacuation zone, you don't need to evacuate if you feel a long or strong earthquake or in an official tsunami warning. We don't expect tsunami flooding in this area. You may want to open your home to friends or family who do need to evacuate.

Tsunami warnings

Know the natural warning signs

If a tsunami is coming from close to our shores, there may not be time to confirm that a tsunami has been created and issue an official warning. The earthquake is your warning.

If you feel a long (shaking for more than a minute, whether strong or not) or strong (shaking so strong it is hard to stand up) earthquake, you should leave the red and orange tsunami evacuation zones as soon as the shaking stops.
Don't wait for sirens, an emergency mobile alert, or anyone else to tell you what to do.
Evacuate to a location outside of the red and orange tsunami evacuation zones.
Walk or cycle if you can to avoid damage to roads and bridges, and so you don’t get stuck in traffic.
Be aware of potential rockfalls in hilly areas.

Official warnings

If a tsunami is coming from more than one hour away, there will be time to issue an official warning. You may receive an official tsunami warning as an emergency mobile alert (EMA) or through a siren where installed. You will be told which zones to evacuate.

You can also check the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group website and social media accounts for information on what zones to evacuate.

Emergency Mobile Alerts

Emergency Mobile Alerts (EMAs) are messages from emergency agencies to capable mobile phones. EMAs can be targeted to specific areas and will only be sent when there is a serious threat to life, health or property.

If a tsunami is likely to flood land and there is time to do so, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) will issue an EMA to the areas under threat. It will tell people to either evacuate immediately or to prepare to evacuate if the first waves aren’t expected for several hours. The Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group will send a follow-up EMA to the areas under threat with more detailed local evacuation information.

You can check if your phone can receive EMAs on the Get Ready website.

Sirens

If you are in a red or orange tsunami evacuation zone and feel a long or strong earthquake, do not wait for a tsunami siren to sound. Evacuate as soon as the shaking stops.

Sirens can be useful in some circumstances but are generally not recommended, as people tend to wait until they hear the siren before they evacuate instead of evacuating on the natural warning of a long or strong earthquake.

This can put people at greater risk as there will not be time to sound sirens if a tsunami is coming from nearby.

If you hear tsunami sirens, where they are installed, follow the instructions in the siren message.

If it is a tone siren turn on the radio or check your local council website or social media to see if you need to evacuate.

You can find more information about tsunami warning systems in your area through your local city or district council.

Where to get information in a tsunami evacuation

During a tsunami evacuation, you will be able to get information from:

The Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group website and social media accounts
Your local council website and social media accounts

TV and local radio stations.

Tsunami evacuation zone reports

You can read more about how we determined the tsunami evacuation zones for different parts of Waitaha in the following reports.

Download evacuation zone reports~~

Tsunami evacuation zones and warnings