Update: Wave hits Chatham Is. at 1.5m (4 ft. 11in.). . .

[kevinbgoode]

1.5-metre tsunami wave hits Chathams, heading for mainland

"A surge of water measuring 40cm has reached Gisborne while Pitt Island in the Chathams has been hit by a 1.5 metre surge.

Napier, Castlepoint, Tauranga and North Cape tsunami indicators are showing signs that surges of water are reaching mainland New Zealand. The entire east coast has been put on a tsunami alert.

Residents on Pitt Island have recorded surges more than two metres.

The island's Flowerpot Lodge owner Bernadette Mallinson said water levels surged above high tide levels even though the island was at low tide.

If the surges continued in high tide later in the day the effects could be massive, she said."



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10629052