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Story: Tsunamis

Tsunami damaged cottage, 2016

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Tsunami damaged cottage, 2016

The only major damage caused by the Kaikōura tsunami was to the Little Pigeon Bay cottage on Banks Peninsula. Although the tsunami caused by the Kaikōura earthquake of 14 November 2016 was barely a metre high near Christchurch, the effect of water being pushed into a narrow bay produced a 3-metre high tsunami at Little Pigeon Bay. Its force wrenched the historic cottage off its foundations and damaged external walls and a deck.

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GNS Science

Reference: William Power, Natural Hazards Research Platform

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How to cite this page

Willem de Lange and Eileen McSaveney, Tsunamis – 20th-century and recent tsunamis, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/46836/tsunami-damaged-cottage-2016 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Willem de Lange and Eileen McSaveney, published 25 July 2017.