SOUTH AMERICA

Reaction to Chile tsunami

16 years ago

Ports around New Zealand went on alert as a tsunami raced across the Pacific with the speed of a jetliner following an 8.8-magnitude earthquake just off the Chile coast in late February.

Most focused their actions on ensuring vessels were securely moored in port to handle surges, while Lyttelton Port of Christchurch closed shipping movements for a day and Ports of Auckland evacuated all large commercial vessels from berth into deep harbour.

The tsunami ultimately caused only relatively minor wave surges around the country.