Samoa rocked by earthquake, drowned by tsunami

America's North Shore Journal » Disasters » Samoa rocked by earthquake, drowned by tsunami

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September 30th, 2009 | Comments Off

Steven & Sons II retail store in Pago Pago on Twitpic

All disaster photos courtesy of @ardieroque via Twitter and TwitPic. Click for a larger image.

U.S. Geological Survey

Magnitude	8.0
Date-Time	Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 17:48:11 UTC Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 06:48:11 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	15.558Â°S, 172.073Â°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
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 6.6 km (4.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	NST=293, Nph=293, Dmin=>999 km, Rmss=1.07 sec, Gp= 32Â°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2009mdbi

GHC Reid Vaimalu Water Bottling Plant on Twitpic

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced that federal disaster aid has been made available for the territory of American Samoa and ordered federal aid to supplement territory and local recovery efforts in the area struck by an earthquake, tsunami, and flooding beginning on September 29, 2009, and continuing.

FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said the president’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the territory of American Samoa.

This assistance will provide immediate resources to address response, including urgent life sustaining and public health and safety measures. Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available to the territory of American Samoa and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance.

Federal funding also is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for the territory of American Samoa.

Fugate named Kenneth R. Tingman as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Tingman said that damage surveys have been requested and will be conducted as soon as the situation permits.