The Samoan tsunami which brought devastation one year ago on September 29, 2009, was marked by dawn services commemorating the victims. Shortly after, Samoans received a jolt when a fresh tremor was felt, lasting only seconds, from a small quake registering at 5.5, according to The New Zealand Herald.
Although brief, the coincidental timing of the quake was unsettling for some who had experienced the three successive earthquakes last year, each measuring between 7.8-8.1 in magnitude. Those large quakes generated the 2009 tsunami that pummeled villages and holiday resorts.
Fred Crichton, Manager of Aggie Grey’s Hotel in Apia, Samoa said his staff felt the quake while at a morning meeting.
“Everybody was looking at each other saying it was a repeat of last year.”
“I went and rang my family in Lalomanu, one of the bad areas last time. They said they had felt it but it wasn’t as strong as last year,” Mr. Crichton told stuff.co.nz.
The 2009 quake had been the country’s worst natural disaster, with a death toll reaching 143 in Samoa, according to AFP. In American Samoa and Tonga, 34 lives were lost.
The Samoan government will hold a national commemoration on Oct. 3 with a public ceremony at Tafaigata, including a prayer service, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Although brief, the coincidental timing of the quake was unsettling for some who had experienced the three successive earthquakes last year, each measuring between 7.8-8.1 in magnitude. Those large quakes generated the 2009 tsunami that pummeled villages and holiday resorts.
Fred Crichton, Manager of Aggie Grey’s Hotel in Apia, Samoa said his staff felt the quake while at a morning meeting.
“Everybody was looking at each other saying it was a repeat of last year.”
“I went and rang my family in Lalomanu, one of the bad areas last time. They said they had felt it but it wasn’t as strong as last year,” Mr. Crichton told stuff.co.nz.
The 2009 quake had been the country’s worst natural disaster, with a death toll reaching 143 in Samoa, according to AFP. In American Samoa and Tonga, 34 lives were lost.
The Samoan government will hold a national commemoration on Oct. 3 with a public ceremony at Tafaigata, including a prayer service, The New Zealand Herald reported.
