Samoa Tsunami & Earthquake 2009: News, Photos, & Videos
Samoa Islands is made up of nine volcanic islands, including the two large islands of Upolu and Savai'i and seven small islets. It is located about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the South Pacific.¹
The earthquake struck at 1748 GMT on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, generating 15ft (4.5m) tsunami waves in some areas of the Samoa Islands.² Based on currently available location and fault mechanism information, the USGS infers that the earthquake occurred as a normal fault rupture on or near the outer rise of the subducting Pacific plate.³ Several countries have been hit by the tsunami including: Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Japan.
Event Facts
- Death toll at least 129
- Samoa – 77 people are reported dead and 150 injured
- American Samoa – at least 31 people are reported dead and about 50 injured; a number of people are missing
- Tonga – 9 people are reported dead and four injured
- Profile Samoas
Tsunami Facts & Resources
- 15ft (4.5m) waves
- IAEM Tide Gauge
- Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Tsunami Messages
- Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Tsunami Bulletin
Earthquake Facts & Resources
- 8.0 M struck on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, at 06:48:11 AM at epicenter USGS
- normal fault rupture on or near the outer rise of the subducting Pacific plate USGS
- USGS Location Maps
- USGS Historical Seismicity Map of Samoa Islands Region
- USGS Earthquake Event Map
- USGS Earthquake List of Foreshocks & Aftershocks
- USGS Seismic Hazard Map
- USGS Samoa Island Shake Map
- USGS Earthquake Density Map
- Google Maps Samoa Islands
Latest News
- (8-24-10) – NY Times: Noticing a Magnitude-8.0 Earthquake Months Later
- (8-23-10) – NSF: Deadly Tonga Earthquake Revealed as Three Big Quakes
- (8-18-10) – BBC: Earthquake 'double whammy' caused 2009 Tonga tsunami
- (8-18-10) – Scientific American: Double Shake: Multiple, Nearly Simultaneous Earthquakes Triggered Deadly 2009 Tsunami
- (8-18-10) – Nature: Near-simultaneous great earthquakes at Tongan megathrust and outer rise in September 2009
- (8-18-10) – Nature: The 2009 Samoa-Tonga great earthquake triggered doublet
- (12-04-09) – BBC: Samoa tsunami 'twice height of buildings'
- (11-04-09) – ASCE/COPRI: Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute COPRI blog – In Samoa, COPRI team views extensive quake-tsunami damage
- (10-02-09) – UN: UN officials express concern over loss of life in wake of Pacific island tsunami
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Tsunami rescue begins in Pacific
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Islanders act on tsunami alerts
- (10-01-09) – BBC: Profile: the Samoas
- (09-30-09) – BBC: Deadly tsunami strikes in Pacific
- (09-30-09) – BBC: Pacific tsunami: Countries hit
- (09-30-09) – BBC: Eyewitness accounts: Pacific tsunami
- (09-30-09) – NY Times: Scores Are Killed as Tsunami Hits Samoa Islands
- (09-29-09) – FEMA: President Declares Major Disaster For Territory Of American Samoa
Videos & Photo Galleries
- BBC Clean up after Samoa tsunami
- BBC Where the Samoa tsunami struck
- BBC Pacific Tsunami pictures
- LA Times
- Sydney Morning Herald
- BBC Eyewitness accounts
- American Samoa Tsunami Photos
- BBC On air when tsunami hit
- NY Times Video of the Tsunami Damage
- NZ Herald