This morning we woke to the news of tsunami warnings for island in the South Pacific after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile the night before. The satellite transceiver was buzzing with alarms of new priority messages relating to the tsunami that was to make its way across the Pacific. News reports had already reported that a six foot tsunami had struck French Polynesia. A scientist who was on this ship a week ago and back in Hawaii reported on Facebook that tsunami alarm sounded in Oahu hours before the predicted time it was to strike the Aloha State.
Diving operations were delayed for over an hour and watches posted on the bridge to look for any signs of an impending tsunami. We were located on the southern tip of Upolu off the coast of Leone and to the north of us I could see silhouettes of fishing boats that were tied up in Pago Pago ordered to go out to sea. The ocean was calm and no sign of unusual activity that indicate a tsunami on its way.
I received a call from the bridge and the CO asked me if there were any local stations we could listen to for news reports. Pago Pago did not have an AM station that broadcast news and the only radio activity I knew of were a rock station on the FM band. I did set the HF radio on the bridge to Samoan Broadcasting Corporation out of Apia but they were playing their morning music with talk in Samoan. I tuned it to Radio New Zealand International as they provide feeds to stations in the South Pacific for news in English. Unfortunately we received great coverage of activities in New Zealand and news of the South Pacific islands took a back seat.
I brought up a scanner I had bought two years ago and looked for the FM station in Pago Pago but we were drifting towards the southwest tip of Tutuila. Instead I tuned it to NOAA Weather Radio and received the official updates on it. Reception was better on one of the VHF transceivers used in the GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress Safety System) system. Initial reports indicate that the tsunami was 1.4 feet above water level but reports out of Hawaii says 2.2 feet.
I am posting photos I took in Western Samoa several weeks ago when the family and I took a Saturday drive around the island. We stopped by Lalomanu in the southeastern portion of Upolu. This was the result of the tsunami that struck Samoa five months ago.
All is well on the Hi’ialakai and I sent out e-mails to family that I was alright and out at sea is the safest place to be during a tsunami. I have sailed in Alaska and off the coast of the Pacific Northwest during the winter, so I can take a bumpy ride.
Good night from the South Pacific and manuia-po from American Samoa.
Photos taken on February 6, 2010 of Tsunami Damage from
September 2009 Tsunami Strike in Western Samoa.
Debris at a lot in the Village of Malaela.
Damaged structure in Lalomanu
Road to Lalomanu from Malaela. This area once had fales, churches and businesses
Offices and restaurant to once thriving and now abandoned Boomerang Resort in Saleapaga
Debris of what was once a "hotel cottage" of Boomerang Resort
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