Earthquake and tsunami devastate Samoan coastline
Updated
In Samoa, Wednesday's earthquake and tidal wave caused panic, smashing buildings, throwing cars off the roads and hurling boats onshore. Beachside homes and resorts on the island's southeast have been devastated, roads to many outlying villages are in ruins, and the government and agencies like the Red Cross say they expect the death toll to rise.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Russel Hunter, editor, Samoa Observer newspaper, Apia, Samoa
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HUNTER: The damage along the south-east coast is beyond estimate at the moment, there's just no idea of the value of the damage. The extend of the damage is horrendous, there are up to two thousand people we estimate who are homeless tonight, living outdoors, they have no homes, no possessions, their crops would almost certainly have been ruined ad their fishing boats would be matchwood, they're in very serious condition.
PODGER: Is aid begining to arrive to those people?
HUNTER: The government services are doing their best, they're getting tents in as quickly as they can, they're hampered by the road conditions, much of the road has gone, there isn't a large amount of helicopters here that can carry heavy loads, so those people are in for a very, very difficult few days.
PODGER: Around 6 o'clock local time, there was a fresh tsunami warning issued by Samoa, what was the outcome of that?
HUNTER: There was no tsunami, in fact one of our people checked with the Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii and they said no, they had issued no warning, so how the warning came about is a bit unclear, maybe it was over-reaction but anyway it did not eventuate.
PODGER: The reports that we have here, indicate that American Samoa was hit even harder by this disaster, the phone lines are down across much of that island, it's been very difficult getting any idea of what's happened there, what have you heard?
HUNTER: Much the same as you Corrine, it's difficult to make contact, we've spoken to some of the government officials who understandbly don't know the full extent because they can't make contact either but it does sound very serious.
PODGER: Samoa is a small country, lots of people know each other, this is a terribly devastating event for the country, what's the mood like there?
HUNTER: It's quite somber, at first when I went to work this morning early, just after the quake, people were moving very orderly way to higher ground and clearer ground and the mood was quite jovial almost but later in the day when it became known how serious this was, there was an atmosphere of great sadness.
PODGER: There won't be any families in Samoa that won't be untouched by what's happened will there?
HUNTER: Absolutely not, I'd say just about every family in the country would be touched in some way or another.
PODGER: There've been tsunami warning systems going up across the Pacific since 2004, is there a sense that it's helped save any lives in this instance?
HUNTER: There's certainly a sense that it's helped people in Apia , where there have been tsunami drillsand people did leave the town in quite an orderly way, out in the rural areas less so, I think they were somehow taken by surprise as you know earthquakes are not exactly unknown here but this was a big one and I think they thought they had more time to collect whatever was valuable to them and evacuate but one village told us it was within minutes of the quake the tsunami hit .
PODGER: In the coming days as the shock of the tsunami and earthquake start to recede what will Samoa need most from the international community?
HUNTER: At the moment it desperately needs shelter, whether it's tarpaulins, tents, whatever, fresh water, medical personnel and food.
PODGER: And is there a sense that enough help is arriving or begining to arrive from abroad?
HUNTER: There is a sense that help is on the way, it's not here yet but we do know Australia and New Zealand is organising a pretty big effort.
