Shakeout and remembering Samoa's Earthquake 2009...

 Have you ever experienced being in an earthquake? Today my work team did the 'drop, cover, hold' drill at work at 9.15 am after we'd strategically decided where the best place was to run to in the event of the earthquake. I chose under a doorway away from the electrical cords under my desk and the glass windows nearby. It only lasted a few seconds with a few photos taken to record the event.

On September 29, 2009 my family was in Samoa on a 2 week vacation and for my eldests' birthday. We were sleeping over with my mum at my husband's family house(s) on a mountain in Siumu just 5 minutes drive from the coast when the 8.1 earthquake first hit. What alerted me first was the loud noise made by the chickens and then the rumbling started at about 7 am in the morning whilst my children were still sleeping. I remembering looking at my husband and asking if it was an earthquake and he confirmed it  having lived on the mountain.

It was the glass bottles tinkling on the window sills and breaking in the room besides that alerted me to the fact that these low rumbles that we could hear were something to be taken seriously, in the first 60 seconds. The rumbling would then subside but I could see by my slim briefcase that it was still picking up movement from the house as it would keep slightly rocking in waves then as quickly as it started, it suddenly stopped. All this in less than 3-5 minutes.

About 5 minutes later there was chaos up and down the main road to the sea where the school was. By then most children had already gone to school and Fritz (my husband) jumped into our 4WD and drove down to the coast to see if everyone was alright. That was about the time that the tide had receded and was building up to the great tsunami that a few minutes later rushed at the coast taking my mother in laws boat and crashing it on the banks. Many houses were broken, hotels damaged and lives lost.

Later on, we saw ambulances, utes, trucks etc. driving down the only coast road and then returning. It was sombering in hearing about news of the devastation on the other side of the island in Lalomanu and even closer at Poutasi. It is a disaster that I will never forget or want to remember...