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Earthquake Magnitude 8.0 : Samoa Islands Region

Date           Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 17:48:11 UTC
Location     15.558°S, 172.073°W
Depth         18 km (11.2 miles) set by location program
Region        Samoa Islands Region
Distances  185 km (115 miles) ENE of Hihifo, Tonga
                  195 km (125 miles) S of APIA, Samoa
                  705 km (435 miles) NNE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga
                  2700 km (1670 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand

Death toll is at least 149 in Samoan Tsunami  |  photos

Kiwi surfer rides his way to survival in Samoa  |  (scroll down)
Paul Robertson & Sa-Monana resort at Upolu survive tsunami  |  (click here)

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 October, 2009 : - - Rescue workers on the Samoan islands and Tonga continue to search for survivors after the tsunami struck, killing at least 149 people. 110 people are dead on the Samoan islands and the devastation is complete. Planes carrying aid supplies are arriving on Samoa and nearby American Samoa. 

Tens of thousands of people need help in villages swamped by waves triggered by Tuesday's huge earthquake. The United Nations said it was sending an emergency team to Samoa. Full report, videos, photos, etc at BBC News

Damage in Si'umu Samoa : photo Dominion Post/AFP

Kiwi surfer rides his way to survival in Samoa

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 October, 2009 : - - A New Zealander rode out the tsunami on his surfboard. "I went out early morning for a surf, then I felt the tremor, I didn't really think too much of it. I went out and caught a few waves. All of a sudden the water went really weird, it kind of glassed off and got really lumpy, then we started moving really quick, getting sucked out to sea"

"It was pretty scary looking back and seeing the reef completely dried up; it looked like a volcanic riverbed, it was just gone. I was thinking, 'This is it, we're going to get washed away and smashed into the jungle'. The group of surfers tried in vain to reach the shore as "trees and all sorts of stuff" started floating past them. They lay on their surfboards as wave surges swept ashore, riding them out and trying not to get smashed.

Chris Nel survived the tsunami : photo courtesy WA Today

"After about 35 or 45 minutes of floating around, we managed to time it between a surge to get to land through the reef channel." The surf camp he had been staying at had been destroyed. "A lot of my stuff got washed out to sea. I found one of my surfboards in the jungle."

"We were really, really lucky," Chris Nel said. "If anyone had caught a wave closer to shore there would have definitely been people who would have died or been severely injured." Read the full report at WA Today

A boat lays washed up ashore : photo AP

Related Stories:
# 1 : Scores dead, villages flattened in devastating Samoan tsunami 
# 2 : Little Impact Seen In Hawaii: Beachgoers In Waikiki Ignore Warnings
# 3 : Residents of Samoa describe the minutes before the deadly tsunami struck
# 4 : British toddler killed as he's dragged off beach in Samoa tsunami ...
# 5 : Salani Surf Resort has been washed clean off the face of the earth.
# 6 : Hell on Erath, the sea disappeared, then we saw the sea rising 
# 7 : UNESCO chief distressed by loss of life after Samoan tsunamis 
# 8 : Two Coconuts Blog: Tonga/Samoa Tsunami update


Previous Reports:
# 1 : Tsunami strikes after massive earthquake in SW Pacific 
# 2 : Samoa Tsunami: Salani Surf Resort is wiped out/gone 

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Earthquakes / Tsunamis - Surfersvillage