Oceanographers record largest-ever wave in southern hemisphere off New Zealand coast.

It measured 23.8 metres – the height of an eight-storey building – and beat the previous record set by a 22.03-metre wave in south Tasmania in 2012.

Scientists have recorded a wave measuring 23.8 metres, the height of an eight-storey building, in the Southern Ocean near New Zealand’s Campbell Island, AFP reported on Thursday. This is believed to be the largest wave ever measured in the southern hemisphere. The previous record was set by a 22.03-metre wave clocked by an Australian buoy in south Tasmania in 2012, reported BBC.

The record-breaking wave was measured during a storm on Tuesday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. “This is a very exciting event and to our knowledge it is the largest wave ever recorded in the southern hemisphere,” said Dr Tom Durrant, senior oceanographer at Met Ocean Solutions, which is a part of Meteorological Met service of New Zealand. He told The Sydney Morning Herald said that “it is quite possible, even probable, that there were much higher waves during this storm.”

Durrant added that the Tuesday’s wave was generated by a deep low-pressure system and wind speed exceeding 65 knots. He said storms moved across the Southern Ocean unhindered due to lack of land. “It is the engine room for generating swell waves that then propagate throughout the planet,” he said. “Indeed surfers in California can expect energy from this storm to arrive at their shores in about a week’s time.”