2009 Samoa Islands Earthquake and Tsunami Effects in American Samoa

29 September 2009, 1748 UTC, Mw 8.1
The 2009 Samoa tsunami was generated by the great Mw 8.1 earthquake on 29 September 2009 17:48 UTC (06:48 am local time) south of Apia, Samoa. Strong shaking was felt for 1-2 min and the tsunami arrived 10-20 min later. The 2009 event consisted of at least two separate earthquakes near the Tonga Trench, one of the most seismically active areas in the world. The first earthquake was on outer rise normal fault and the other a subduction zone thrust fault, that occurred within 2-3 min of each other, and about 50-100 km apart.
The 2009 earthquake generated a tsunami with wave heights of over 22 m on Tafahi Island, Tonga and 14 m on Upolu Island, Samoa. In American Samoa, the average wave heights were 4 m with a maximum of almost 18 m at Poloa, Tutuila Island. The tsunami caused extensive coastal damage and 149 deaths in Samoa, 9 deaths in Tonga, 34 deaths in American Samoa, and over $200 million in damage.