Quake triggers tsunami in the Samoas, killing 34

[CountAllVotes]

Source: The Associated Press

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – A powerful Pacific Ocean earthquake spawned towering tsunami waves that swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa early Tuesday, flattening villages, killing at least 34 people and leaving dozens of workers missing at devastated National Park Service facilities. Cars and people were swept out to sea by the fast-churning water as survivors fled to high ground, where they remained huddled hours later. Hampered by power and communications outages, officials struggled to assess the casualties and damage.

The quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn about 20 miles below the ocean floor, 120 miles (190 kilometers) from American Samoa, a U.S. territory that is home to 65,000 people, and 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa.

Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet high roared ashore soon afterward, reaching up to a mile inland. Holly Bundock, spokeswoman for the National Park Service's Pacific West Region in Oakland, Calif., said Reynolds spoke to officials from under a coconut tree uphill from Pago Pago Harbor and reported that the park's visitor center and offices appeared to have been destroyed.

<snip>
The ramifications of the tsunami could be felt thousands of miles away, with federal officials saying strong currents and dangerous waves were forecast from California to Washington state. No major flooding was expected, however.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_pacific_earthquake

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:scared:

Hope this doesn't set off the San Andreas fault!! :nuke:

:dem:

[Barack_America]

1. That's terrible. Does FEMA apply to American Samoa?

I admit I do not know, but should.

[Duer 157099]

2. There are so many atolls in that area, that are only

a couple of feet above sea level, I wonder what happens to them when even a tiny tsunami comes by? Surely this one had to affect some of those very tiny atolls?

Like, look at this one, which is in that same region, and zoom out and find Samoa and see the relative size difference. What about the people in that tiny village?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=samoa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=29.910058,56.074219&ie=UTF8&ll=-9.20034,-171.848745&spn=0.004543,0.010933&t=h&z=17

[CountAllVotes]

4. interesting!

Thanks for posting the maps.

I don't know a lot about American Samoa but I read that some of the villages had been wiped out. :( :( :(

There is more about American Samoa and its people here:

http://americansamoa.gov/index.htm

[alfredo]

3. I've been monitoring a station nearby and I've noticed several aftershocks. Ther

was one not too long ago. I see 5 on the graph right now. 6, and this one looks like just under 2.0.
http://www.seis.sc.edu/gee/

[happyslug]

5. Duplicate Topic:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4082667