The interesting papers by Margaritondo (2005 "Eur. J. Phys." 26 401) and by Helene and Yamashita (2006 "Eur. J. Phys." 27 855) analysed the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 using a simple one-dimensional canal wave model, which was appropriate for undergraduate students in physics and related fields of discipline. In this paper, two additional, easily understandable models, suitable for the same level of readership, are proposed: one, a two-dimensional model in flat space, and two, the same on a spherical surface. The models are used to study the tsunami produced by the central Kuril earthquake of November 2006. It is shown that the two alternative models, especially the latter one, give better representations of the wave amplitude, especially at far-flung locations. The latter model further demonstrates the enhancing effect on the amplitude due to the curvature of the Earth for far-reaching tsunami propagation. (Contains 2 figures and 3 footnotes.)