Details still emerging. :(
QuoteTsunami hits American Samoa
By FILI SAGAPOLUTELE – 17 minutes ago
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — A powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific between Samoa and American Samoa around dawn Tuesday, sending terrified residents fleeing for higher ground as a tsunami swept ashore, flattening at least one village. There were no immediate reports of fatalities.
The temblor hit at 6:48 a.m. Tuesday (1748 GMT) midway between the two island groups. In Apia, families reported shaking that lasted for up to three minutes. The U.S. Geological Service said the quake struck 20 miles (35 kilometers) below the ocean floor, 120 miles (190 kilometers) from American Samoa and 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a general alert for the South Pacific region, from American Samoa to New Zealand. It said there were indications a tsunami wave could be "destructive" along some coastlines.
New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."
A tsunami swept into Pago Pago, capital of American Samoa, shortly after the earthquake, sending sea water surging inland about 100 yards (meters) before receding, leaving some cars stuck in mud.
The staff of the port ran to higher ground, and police soon came by, telling residents to get inland.
In Fagatogo, water reached the waterfront town's meeting field and covered portions of the main highway, which also was plagued by rock slides.
In Samoa, the powerful quake jolted people awake.
"It was pretty strong; it was long and lasted at least two minutes," one resident told local radio.
"It's the strongest I have felt, and we ran outside. You could see all the trees and houses were shaking," he said.
Sulili Dusi told New Zealand's National Radio that "everything dropped on the floor and we thought the house was going to go down as well. Thank God, it didn't." Along with neighbors, they fled to high ground.
She said the tsunami hit the south side of the island, and some "cars have been taken." She did not elaborate, but added "we just thank God no life has been taken yet."
Another resident, Dean Phillips, said the southern coast of Upolu island had been struck by the tsunami.
"The police are sending everybody up to high ground," he said.
Local media said they had reports of some landslides in the Solosolo region of the main Samoan island of Upolu and damage to plantations in the countryside outside Apia.
There were no immediate reports of injury or serious damage from local emergency services, but people reported cracks in some homes and items tossed from shelves.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami warning for numerous islands in the Pacific, including the Samoas, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, French Polynesia and Palmyra Island.
The center posted a tsunami watch for Hawaii, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Island, Johnston Island, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Wake Island, Midway Island and Pitcairn.
In New Zealand, a tsunami alert was issued by national Civil Defense, and the nation's national emergency center was activated.
Associated Press writer Keni Lesi contributed to this report from Apia, Samoa.
Samoans are too big to wash away to sea.
They'll need to rebuild their huts though. :(
Yeah, if Yokozuna was still around he coulda bodyslammed that thing and sent it packing. :(
He died? :o
Quote from: Jaron on September 29, 2009, 03:24:31 PM
He died? :o
Yes, almost ten years ago. :huh:
Shockingly, he died of a heart attack. -_-
I feel numb. :(
God DAMN America and their Tsunami Machine :mad:
Time to short Hormel.
Did any of the pubs make it?
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 29, 2009, 04:12:12 PM
Fuck no. Hawaii still exists.
Down 1% in today's trading. :lol:
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 29, 2009, 04:18:12 PM
I'm holding SPAM in a recession.
Check out today's prices on HRL. Big dip right at noon (followed by a rebound).
Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 29, 2009, 04:21:17 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 29, 2009, 04:18:12 PM
I'm holding SPAM in a recession.
Check out today's prices on HRL. Big dip right at noon (followed by a rebound).
Hilarious dip.
Quote from: Caliga on September 29, 2009, 03:18:33 PM
QuoteTsunami hits American Samoa
The center posted a tsunami watch for Hawaii, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Island, Johnston Island, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Wake Island, Midway Island and Pitcairn.
My uncle is supposed to be in New Caledonia now.
Hopefully, everything will be alright there.
The much bigger news here is that there -might- be a tsunami in new zealand.
Well.
Planet Earth just got whiter. :(
I had a friend from Samoa. Well not so much a friend as person I would kick. Anyway, I bet he's fine.
99 killed in American Samoa by the Tsunami and another 75 killed in Indonesia by another strong earthquake. :cry:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33085687/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
Quote from: Lettow77 on September 29, 2009, 05:47:56 PM
The much bigger news here is that there -might- be a tsunami in new zealand.
The biggest news is that you haven't beaten to death yet by a large negro.
:cry:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33115387/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
QuoteDeath toll in Indonesia earthquake hits 531
Rescuers pull screaming victims from flattened buildings
updated 59 minutes ago
PADANG, Indonesia - Rescue workers pulled victims, some screaming in pain, from the heavy rubble of buildings felled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 531 people. The death toll was expected to rise.
The brunt of Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which originated in the sea off Sumatra island, appeared to have been borne by Padang town where 376 people were killed. Four other districts accounted for the remaining deaths.
The region was jolted by another powerful earthquake Thursday morning, causing damage but no reported fatalities.
Where's beemo at again? :unsure:
The toll has riven in Samoa as well.
How horrible. :weep:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33114252/ns/world_news-asiapacific/
QuoteDeath toll in Samoas tsunami grows to 149
Residents dig through wreckage after 'monster' wave sweeps villages away
AP
updated 9 minutes ago
APIA, Samoa - Samoans searched flattened homes and debris-filled swamps Thursday as more military ships and planes began arriving on the disaster-stricken Pacific islands after an earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 150 people.
The day after the disaster struck, officials were expecting the death toll to rise as more areas were searched — a process that could take several weeks.
A Navy frigate carrying two helicopters and medical supplies arrived late Wednesday in American Samoa, and the Air Force dispatched two cargo planes. Australian officials said they will send an air force plane carrying 20 tons of humanitarian aid.
"This is a devastating earthquake and a devastating tsunami," Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinating officer Kenneth Tingman told reporters in American Samoa. "We know that power is paramount but we are also doing life saving and life sustaining efforts."
A magnitude 8.0 quake struck off Samoa at 6:48 a.m. local time (1:48 p.m. EDT; 1748 GMT) Tuesday. The islands soon were engulfed by four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet high that reached up to a mile inland.
The Samoas lie about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii, just east of the international date line.
'It was like a monster'
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele's own village of Lesa was washed away — like many others on Samoa and nearby American Samoa and Tonga. He inspected Wednesday the southeast coast of the main Samoan island of Upolu, the most heavily hit area. He described seeing "complete" devastation. Dazed survivors told of being trapped underwater or flung inland by the tsunami.
"In some villages absolutely no house was standing. All that was achieved within 10 minutes by the very powerful tsunami," he said.
"To me it was like a monster — just black water coming to you. It wasn't a wave that breaks, it was a full force of water coming straight," said Luana Tavale, an American Samoa government employee.
Tuilaepa said the death toll in Samoa was 110, mostly elderly and young children. At least 31 people were killed on American Samoa, Gov. Togiola Tulafono said. Officials in the island nation of Tonga said nine people had been killed.
Samoan police commander Lilo Maiava predicted the toll would rise.
"It may take a week, two weeks or even three weeks" to complete the search for the many people still missing, he said.
The quake was centered about 120 miles south of the nation of Samoa, formerly part of New Zealand, which has about 220,000 people, and American Samoa, a U.S. territory of 65,000.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said it issued an alert, but the waves came so quickly that residents only had about 10 minutes to respond.
'We all went under the water'
New Zealand school teacher Charlie Pearse choked back tears as she spoke to New Zealand's TV One News from an Apia hospital bed in Samoa, recalling how she was trapped underwater and thought she was going to die.
She was in the back of a truck trying to outrun the tsunami with about 20 children when a wave tossed the truck and it landed on top of them.
"We all went under the water and I think a number of the children died instantly," Pearse said.
"I asked, 'Is this my time to come home? Take me home, I'm ready,' and I let my breath out and I took a big gulp of water ... and I don't know, I just popped out (from under the water)," Pearse said.
On the island of Upolu, taro farmer Tony Fauena said he ran for the hills when the deadly tsunami thundered across the coast while his niece ran to rescue her 6-month-old son. Villagers found the bodies of the mother and son entangled in uprooted trees and debris 200 yards from the ocean.
"Many parents died trying to protect their children," Fauena said from the ruins of a brother's home in the village of Sale Ataga on the southeast coast as he watched police search the same area for four more missing relatives.
The heavily damaged southeast coast of the island was a stretch of flattened, mud-swept villages. Mattresses hung from trees. Police searched for survivors amid pulverized homes and bodies scattered in a swamp. Several tourist resorts were wiped out, authorities said.
In Tonga, government spokesman Lopeti Senituli said parts of an island have disappeared, with two of the island's three villages virtually flattened.
"The hospital on the island has been severely damaged as well as the airport runway ... meaning no fixed-wing aircraft can land," he said. A Tongan patrol boat has been sent with water, food and shelter for more than 1,000 residents.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Barry Compagnoni, whose jurisdiction includes the port of Pago Pago, said a disaster assessment team was to arrive later Wednesday from Honolulu and will work with local officials to analyze the damage.
Power in Pago Pago was expected to be out in some areas for up to a month, and officials said some 2,200 people were in seven shelters across the island.
The waves lifted a building housing a hardware store and carried it across a two-lane highway. Crews later found the two employees' bodies in the debris.
Red Cross relief worker Garete Wolfe at a hilltop camp in Samoa said water was the most critical need.
"The water lines are all ... damaged, and with this water problem we face waterborne disease," Wolfe said.
New Zealand provided 1 million New Zealand dollars ($710,000) in immediate aid to Samoa, Tonga and the Samoan Red Cross on Thursday. Acting Prime Minister Bill English said Prime Minister John Key is cutting short his U.S. vacation to fly to Samoa to inspect the damage.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs said three Australians were among the dead. The British Foreign Office said one Briton was missing and presumed dead.
While the earthquake and tsunami were big, they were not as large as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 in a dozen countries across Asia.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Quote from: Syt on October 01, 2009, 01:06:29 PM
Where's beemo at again? :unsure:
Riding to safety on the backs of the proletariat.
1,100 dead in Indonesia :(
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/01/indonesia.earthquake/index.html
I wonder if the cast of Survivor died? It would be funny if they REALLY got stranded and had to make a go of it.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on October 01, 2009, 03:00:26 PM
1,100 dead in Indonesia :(
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/01/indonesia.earthquake/index.html
Someone check on Bmo plz. :(
I need to see an "anvil rocket burrito happy thunderbolt" post from him to know he's ok. :huh:
Quote from: Jaron on September 29, 2009, 05:59:36 PM
Well.
Planet Earth just got whiter. :(
Samoans are probably roughly the average skin tone on Earth.