SOLOMON ISLANDS EARTHQUAKE GENERATES SMALL BUT DEADLY

TSUNAMI IN SOUTH PACIFIC FEBRUARY 6, 2013

M8.0

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

LOCATION OF EARTHQUAKE: February 6, 2013

SEISMICITY NEAR EPICENTER OF EARTHQUAKE

THE TSUNAMI: SMALL, BUT DEADLY

A powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated a tsunami up to 1.5 metres (5ft) high that damaged dozens of homes and left several people missing, or presumed dead near the town of Lata in the Santa Cruz Islands.

THE TSUNAMI WARNING WAS CANCELLED FOR DISTANT LOCATIONS

PAST SOUTH PACIFIC TSUNAMI

TSUNAMI STRIKES AMERICAN SAMOA

A M8.3 EARTHQUAKE IN THE PACIFIC GENERATES 9 M TSUNAMI WAVE

RUNUP

September 29, 2009

LOCATION

AMERICAN SAMOA’S ROSE ISLAND: A PART OF ROSE ATOLL

ANATOMY OF A TSUNAMI

THE EARTHQUAKE

• The earthquake struck 125 miles south of Apia, Samoa and about 139 miles southwest of Pago Pago on American Samoa.

• The tremor, which struck at 6.48 a.m. local time, had a shallow depth of about 11.2 miles, making it more destructive.

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER

• A warning was issued immediately for American Samoa, Samoa, Niue, Wallis-Futuna, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Kermadec Islands, Fiji, Howland-Baker, Jarvis Island, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Palmyra Island, Vanuatu, Nauru, Marshall Island, the Solomon Islands, Johnston Island, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei, and Wake Island

IMPACTS: FAGATOGO; VERTICAL EVACUATION

IMPACTS ON AMERICAN SAMOA

• Samoa and American Samoa (population of 180,000), both located about 130 miles from the earthquake epicenter, experienced the worst effects.

• Some villages on American Samoa were destroyed by tsunami wave runup.

• Early estimates of at least 200 deaths.

AMERICAN SAMOA

• In the harbor of Pago Pago, on American Samoa, one tsunami wave reached a height of at least 13.1 foot (4 meter), according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

• Some witnesses described one of the tsunamis to be as high as 30 feet (9.1 meter).

•

IMPACTS: PAGO PAGO

IMPACTS: PAGO PAGO

IMPACTS: PAGO PAGO

IMPACTS: FAGATOGO

IMPACTS: FAGATOGO

IMPACTS: SIUMU

IMPACTS: LEONE

ASSISTANCE

• Australia immediately offered assistance.

• The US Coast Guard developed a comprehensive response to meet emerging needs.