Yesterday an earthquake shook to the west of us when a fault rupture of between 124.3 and 186.5 miles, with one side of a fault moved almost 23 feet above the other, Gary Gibson, a seismologist at environmental monitoring company Environmental Systems and Services, said.Good Morning America reported the 8.3-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday about 125 miles from Samoa at 6.48pm BST, sending a large wave into Apia, the capital of Samoa.
Residents of both Samoa and American Samoa, to the east, reported being shaken awake by the earthquake, which lasted two to three minutes and originated about 20 miles below the ocean floor. It was followed by at least three large aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude which later caused "surges" or recurring giant waves.
In Samoa, the wave reportedly sent water and debris surging up to 330 feet inland, leaving terrified residents fleeing their homes.
I could sadly not find the video I saw on the news this morning with raw footage of the second surge but I did find this History Channel video which will give you a little insight on tsunamis and also has a short clip of the one yesterday...
The death toll has now reached 99 people and there are still many missing. In Washington, President Obama has declared a major disaster for American Samoa. Obama said in a statement early Wednesday that he and his [tanned] wife "will keep those who have lost so much in our thoughts and prayers".
Hampered by power and communications outages, officials in the South Pacific islands struggled to determine damage and casualties. Pago Pago, another city in the area was also hit by huge waves. Joey Cummings of radio station 93KHJ in Pago Pago said that he and his fellow workers watched from a balcony as a 15-foot tsunami wave struck. He said he yelled for people to run uphill, "but they just ran down the street away from the wave rather than make a sharp left and up the steep mountain just feet away." Smart people derr, but I guess in the face of destruction and death many people would act idiotic.
A "river of mud" carried trees, cars, buses and boats past his building, which is practically at sea level, Cummings told the BBC. Some people searched for trapped survivors, he said,
but others looted stores (assholes).
Why do people have to take advantage of a natural disaster... this isn't Jumanji! Yes, thank you Robin Williams.
Anyway, what Beatnik Babble Broadcast wanted to explore the ways you could survive a tsunami. Well let's see, the obvious one would be what if you were in a boat? A boat might work, but you would have to be quite far off the shoreline since it is the most disaster-prone area, duh. But then again you wouldn't want to be above that fault line when it dropped, or probably anywhere near it.
The real question we've been meaning to ask is, what if a tsunami was on its way over, could you survive with arm floaties!?
YES! ... We mean, it is probable, but maybe not. We have new intel saying yes, you would float on top of the water with arm floaties. But be careful for trees, floating cars, buildings, rubble, and such. It might knock you unconscious and that, our friends, would be the source of your untimely death, not the use of arm floaties.
Moral of the day: Stay clear of areas around what the world is calling "the ring of fire" this is the most activity and destruction occurs... go to Florida or the Golf or something (but watch out for those hurricanes too!). Bring arm floaties with you everywhere you go, even wear them at all times just in case. Yes you may look stupid in your suit, whether the floaties be over or under your jacket, but it may save your life!
Moral of the day. Good strategy. That's the kind of rhetorical hook that makes things pop.
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