Details of earthquake:
Magnitude 7.9 occurred near the New Zealand south coast at 7:22pm EST.
Australia's warning response:
| 7.22pm | Earthquake detected off the south-west tip of New Zealand. |
| 7.30pm | Geoscience Australia locates the earthquake and activates the tsunami warning centre. |
| 7.46pm | The bureau issues a Tsunami Watch 24 minutes after the earthquake. |
| 7.50pm | Deep-ocean buoy in the southern Tasman Sea confirms the existence of a tsunami. |
| 8.05pm | Tsunami Warning (Land Threat) issued for Lord Howe Island. |
| 8.17pm | Tsunami Warning (Marine Threat) issued for the mainland, Tasmania and Norfolk Island. |
| 10.30pm | Tsunami waves of about 30cm are recorded at Port Kembla. |
Impacts on Australia
Small tsunami were observed (approximately 3 hours after the earthquake) at several Australian sea-level gauges, including Port Kembla, NSW, and no damage was reported. The largest tsunami was at Southport in southern Tasmania which recorded a 55-centimetre sea level difference above the expected tidal level.
Figure 1: Sea level at Port Kembla, NSW, during the tsunami on 15 July 2009.
