Time to check if you live in a tsunami evacuation zone

Christchurch and Banks Peninsula residents who live or work near a waterway or coastline are being encouraged to find out if they are in a tsunami evacuation zone.

There are two main evacuation zones - the red evacuation zone and the orange evacuation zone. The red zone is the area most likely to be affected by a tsunami. It includes estuaries, rivers, beaches and harbours, where a tsunami of any size could cause strong currents and surges in the water.

The orange tsunami evacuation zone covers areas on land that could be flooded in the event of a large tsunami. Find out which zone your property is in here.

"Living close to the water means that we do need to be prepared for tsunamis," said Christchurch City Council head of civil defence and emergency management Rob Orchard.

"In the past 18 months, we have updated the tsunami evacuation zones to reflect new tsunami modelling that Environment Canterbury, in collaboration with the Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri councils, commissioned GNS to do for Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.

"That modelling indicates significant damage could be caused by flooding from a distant or regional source tsunami. In some scenarios the modelling shows that we could get flooding further inland than previously thought.

"We are working with affected communities to help guide them with their tsunami evacuation planning, but I would really encourage everyone to go onto the council website and check whether their property or their workplace is in a tsunami evacuation zone,’’ Mr Orchard says.

The website has an interactive property search function to see which evacuation zone your property is in. It also has advice about what steps you should take to prepare for an evacuation.

"If you are in red or orange evacuation zones, it is important that you find out what you need to do in the event of an evacuation and start putting a plan together," Orchard said.

"Nature is unpredictable and we could find ourselves in an emergency situation at any time. People need to be prepared for a tsunami event and have a plan of action."

Visit getready.govt.nz to help plan for an emergency.

Said Orchard: "If you’re near the sea or in the red or orange evacuation zones and feel a rolling-motion earthquake for longer than a minute or a strong earthquake that makes it hard to stand up, you need to leave. When the shaking stops, head immediately to the nearest high ground or as far inland as you can, out of the red and orange tsunami evacuation zones."