Australian city has highest rate of meteorological tsunamis in world: research

A port city in Western Australia (WA) has the highest rate of meteorological tsunamis in the world, Australian researchers have found.

Meteorological tsunamis, also known as meteotsunamis, are waves created by disturbances in atmospheric pressure, like thunderstorms and cold fronts.

A research team, from the University of WA, found 25 meteotsunamis took place off the coast of Fremantle, a suburb of Perth, last year, compared with only 10 across whole of Australia.

The Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) reported on Wednesday the abnormally high mark was the highest of any region in the world.

In 2014, a container ship broke its moorings and hit a rail bridge in Fremantle, due to one of the 25 events recorded.

Lead author of the study, Professor Charitha Pattiaratchi, said Perth residents would likely have seen and experienced the subtle affects caused by the meteorological tsunamis.

"They create coastal flooding, so people may have experienced driving around (with) .. water on the road," Pattiaratchi told the ABC on Wednesday.

"We've had two or three of these in the last few years where the water actually came onto the roads, so you actually have a hazard in that case.

"And last year we also had an event where a ship came adrift in Fremantle Port and hit the railway bridge."

The findings are part of the Bushfire Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre project, which is exploring extreme water levels in Australia.

Pattiaratchi said the WA's weather tendencies of seasonal thunderstorms and cold snaps made it the"perfect location for these to occur."

Dr Sarath Wijeratne, a co-author of the paper, said the research would force emergency authorities in the area to confront the issue.

"This will allow us to prepare for and respond to natural disasters in the future and protect people and infrastructure," he said. Endi