To assist in this undertaking, the SES is requesting members of the public with recollections of the tsunami to contact the SES on (02) 4251 6668 between the hours of 8:30am to 4:30pm weekdays.
The 1960 tsunami was caused by a large undersea earthquake off the coast of Chile. The tsunami impacted the New South Wales coastline on the 23rd and the 24th of May 1960. Examples of effects of the tsunami included abnormal ocean behaviour, strong currents in harbours and estuaries and localised coastal erosion and flooding.
Boats were pulled from their moorings and in Newcastle Harbour, a fishing boat was sunk and a coal carrier at Hexham grounded. At Balmain, logs were swept from a barge into the harbour and the Bundeena Ferry was affected by strong currents. Along the coast, seawater caused some flooding near Eden and Batemans Bay, where fishermen were trapped on rocks. At Clontarf in Sydney, currents caused erosion of the foreshore and fishermen up and down the coast noticed unusual sea behaviour. At Iluka, fishermen ran for their lives when the tsunami struck the beach, swamping their truck.
According to SES Manager of Planning Andrew Gissing, "The SES is very interested in the collection of information about previous tsunami impacts to inform current tsunami emergency planning initiatives being undertaken."
