Tsunami in American Samoa

September 30, 2009 | Vatia and Pago Pago, American Samoa | Vetting explained

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I am a elementary school science teacher in the village of Vatia on the north side of the island of American Samoa. Over the last two weeks, I've been working with my seventh and eighth graders on a unit on earthquakes and tsunamis. At about 6:50 a.m. local time, I was reviewing an earthquake crossword puzzle when I felt the earthquake hit American Samoa. My roommate, also a teacher, and I braced outselves in the door frame. About, 20 minutes later one of the teachers from the school yelled from her front yard to tell us to get to higher ground. We watched from our front doors as, in a matter of 45 seconds to one minute, all the ocean water drained from the bay. We threw our lap tops and some clothes in a bag and dove head first into the last pick-up truck to leave town. We passed the bridge and accelerated up the mountain as the wave broke on the sea wall behind the truck. As we went up the mountain, we turned to see water rush over the sea wall and into the street and front yards.

Posted in Assignment:
Tsunami slams into Samoan Islands

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