Surviving a tsunami

[Woxbox]

Here's a letter from a guy I met a couple of years ago. His account of riding out the tsunami in Samoa. I'd say he came out of it ok with both smarts and luck.

This morning (six hrs ago) we were shaken awake by an earthquake which seemed to
have no end! We were aboard Gallivanter and tied side-to a big concrete dock in
the heart of Pago Pago, American Samoa. And after living up & down the
California coast, I knew this was no minor tremor.

After the rude awakening, Cath & I walked across the dock and chatted with a few
of our fellow sailors, one of whom said that he's just done a Google search on
"recent earthquakes" and said that it measured-in at 8.1 and the epicenter was
only 120 miles distant.

We returned to Gallivanter and I turned on our laptop and searched the same
website. Sure enough there it was... "8.1 earthquake - American Samoa - 20
minutes ago". I clicked on the "Show Map" option and noticed the epicenter was
located south west of Pago Pago... which is located on the southern side of the
island.

Just as I was considering the ramifications of that little fact... all hell
started breaking loose! Our boat was on the move! My first reaction was to
start the engine and dash up on deck to see what was going on. I witnessed the
water around us was rapidly dropping! Rapidly! In a blink of an eye, we were on
the bottom and the boat was falling away from the dock! Three of our big dock
lines popped and we fell right over into the mud - the entire basin we had
been floating in only moments ago had completely drained! People were
screaming!

Next - the water came flooding back in at an even more alarming rate and the
next thing I knew we were floating directly above the dock! Over the concrete
slab and drifting toward a young lady we knew (from another boat) who was
desperately hugging a power pole and up to her chin in swirling water! I told
Cath to cut the two remaining dock lines with our serrated bread knife and to
be quick about it!

Right as I put the boat into gear, we were somehow washed back off the dock and
into the basin as I advance to full throttle and we accelerated through a
floating debris field of floating docks, fuel drums, sinking boats, a shipping
container and a barnicle encrusted wreck all of which were spinning in the
torrent of rapidly dropping sea level. It was absolute mayhem! As we steered
out toward the deep water in the center of the harbor I looked over my shouder
and saw what appeared to be a waterfall pouring off the dock and shore beyond.
Not one of the dozen vessels remained at the dock. All were underway in a
matter of seconds... with or without crews aboard.

We motored around in the middle of the harbor watching the waves of floods &
ebbs while wondering about after-shocks and our fellow cruising sailors. As we
passed one of our neighbors she shouted to us that her husband had been washed
off the dock as they were trying to get away. She was alone and seriously
concerned. Other boats broke free from their moorings and anchors in the
initial seismic waves and many were driven ashore, or driven under by loose
tuna boats.

After about three hours, we felt it was finally safe enough to return to the
dock. All we had were lengths of old line and we were short a couple fenders.
We were the first to go in and we started un-tangling lines and helping others
get back along side the concrete dock. All of the store-fronts along the
water are destroyed, roving mobs of kids can be seen looting, the fence around
the dock is gone, every boat on stands in a nearby boatyard were washed away.
Big fishing boats are now in parking lots across the street. Absolute
destruction is seen everywhere along the shore.

Phones and power are down but we got back online right away and I immediately
went back to the recent earthquakes website to see if things have been calming
down in the center of the earth. A number of aftershocks as strong as 6.0 have
been recorded over the past few hours - but thankfully no more wave action has
been noticed. We've been making Skype calls to our families and letting others
use the computer as well to phone home.

Online news reports say that the earthquake lasted three minutes and the highest
flood rose 25 ft above normal! There are 20 confirmed deaths... including our
neighbor who was swept off the dock. Most fatalities occured in and around the
harbor where we live. Boats are battered and nerves are fried. One
friend wound-up on his boat nearly 1000 feet away from the water after breaking
from his anchor and sailing right down Main St. taking power & telephone wires
down with his mast! Some people lost everything... including their lives. We
came through remarkably well with only minor dammage sustained to our toe rail
when the dock lines parted and to our fender basket which was the only point of
contact with that drifting wreck. I never felt any jarring loads while we were
hurtling around above & below the concrete dock, so I believe our hull, keel &
rudder suffered no dammage from the wildest boat ride I've ever been on.

We're all okay... and very lucky.

And we've adopted a tiny kitten.

And that's the way it is.

[elf]

I'd say it was nearly entirely luck there.

I just can't imagine it, must have been terrifying and heart rending.

[TimH]

http://woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=103358&highlight=samoa

[floatingkiwi]

Thanks for sharing that Wox. I feel priveleged to have been able to read a first hand account of what happened, as I am sure you do.
I feel ashamed to be human sometimes. When something like this natural disaster happens and all around are people who are frightened , battling to stay alive, and losing, having everything they own trashed, and so much one can do to help, anything to help no matter how small, we think of nothing but ourselves and resort to looting.
I am glad your friend is OK.

[StevenBauer]

Here is another first hand account:

"When we arrived here we did not find good holding for the anchor but were content and complacent when it snagged on something. The bottom is littered with debris and some wrecks. I had put down a second anchor because of strong winds on arrival but had taken it in yesterday in preparation for leaving today. So this morning while having coffee I felt a long lasting vibration through the hull. I have never felt an earthquake on the boat before so did not recognize what was happening. A short time later maybe 10-20 minutes the boat suddenly jerked sideways and water started rushing out of the harbor exposing shoals that had been about six ft or more deep. Knowing this was a sure warning of a Tsunami I started the engine and tried to get the anchor up. There was chaos all around and then the water started coming back in again, ships were being carried down on us, cars were going past, the water was full of debris. The anchor windlass tripped out one time and I thought about casting the anchor free but finally got it clear of the water far enough to find it was hooked on a chain evidently used as hurricane mooring. I was able to tie it up lower the anchor away and then cut the chain loose and motor clear. We motored for the next two hours around the harbor while smaller surges came and went finally re anchoring about 1130 local. While motoring we found out that my friend Danny was missing from the vessel Mainly and later found he had drowned. I did not go too far away from the pier but what I saw of the town was a disaster. I understand the water went pretty far inland at the head of the bay, some boats were carried with it, two ships were washed ashore but subsequently were pulled off. There is one boat on top of the pier and many building are gone. I looked on the internet and there is coverage of this disaster

Joe"


Steven

[Bruce Hooke]

Wow. Both accounts really bring the situation home.

The accounts do fit with what I heard recently, which is that while people are often reported as having drowned in a Tsunami, what really happens is that the are killed by all the loose debris in the water, or at least knocked unconscious, at which point they drown.

[Lew Barrett]

Thanks to both of you for posting. Incredible, gut wrenching.

[TimH]

Seems like you are almost always better off at sea no matter what the event - Tsunami, hurricane, etc.

[Woxbox]

Seems like you are almost always better off at sea no matter what the event - Tsunami, hurricane, etc.

The guy that wrote that first piece has done some major cruising over quite a few years. He commented when I met him that he found it odd that Coast Guard requirements were more stringent for offshore work than inshore, since in his experience it's inshore where all the trouble occurs. Little did he know how strongly this would be brought home.

[Bruce Hooke]

Seems like you are almost always better off at sea no matter what the event - Tsunami, hurricane, etc.

Without a doubt in a tsunami. At sea you would not even notice the water going up and down under you. I am a bit puzzled, however, by your hurricane comment. In a hurricane, my first choice would be to be on dry land with my boat hauled up in a safe place on land as well. Second choice would be to have my boat well secured in a sheltered cove and to be on dry land myself. Third choice would be the same as the second choice but with me on that boat. Only as a last resort would I head out onto the ocean in the face of a hurricane. I can't really imagine doing that unless I had the boat speed to get out of the path of the hurricane. Of course if you do have the boat speed (and sufficient warning) to move out of the path of the hurricane that does make sense but the speed issues seems like it would rule out most sailboats. Things also get rather different if we are talking about larger ships...

[Bruce Hooke]

The guy that wrote that first piece has done some major cruising over quite a few years. He commented when I met him that he found it odd that Coast Guard requirements were more stringent for offshore work than inshore, since in his experience it's inshore where all the trouble occurs.

Presumably the reason is that when things do go wrong offshore help is a lot further away. If your boat sinks under you on Narragansett Bay chances are very good that someone will be by to pick you up in short order. Not so if you are halfway to Bermuda.

[TimH]

I am a bit puzzled, however, by your hurricane comment. In a hurricane, my first choice would be to be on dry land with my boat hauled up in a safe place on land as well.

I would to. But if you didnt know it was coming you would be luckier to ride it out away from the land. Not necessarily a hurricane, but a big storm.
Nothing worse than a lee shore in a blow.

[Woxbox]

The Navy sends the ships out to sea when a hurricane comes up the coast. Nothing to bang into out there.

[katiedobe]

living in hurricane territory on the carribean side of the Yucatan I have noticed from photos that the majority of damages to homes comes from storm surge along the sea shore, then roof's being blow off and rain destroying the interior both at the sea shore and inland, then as you move inland the damage is usually falling trees, power poles, poorly made concrete walls, and then lastly when you have treeless hillsides above you like some places in Guatamala and Nicaragua they tend to liquify and slide down covering the village killing lots of people.

I would think that if you were at sea wouldn't it just be a bunch of high wind blowing wave tops off at you. The wave action would be tremendous and the possibility of broaching or swamping is highly likely, but much better chance than being carried inland.

[paladin]

The waves are shorter and steeper close to shore, in shallow water. The deeper the water, the smoother the ride...which sometimes is rough, let out double lines, a drogue, lock the steering, glue everything down, make some coffee and ride it out.

[jonboy]

Being even near a tsunami zone...

It's an anagram of 'am I nuts'....or

'I am nuts' for that matter

[TimH]

Being even near a tsunami zone...

It's an anagram of 'am I nuts'....or

'I am nuts' for that matter

The entire pacific basin is a tsunami zone. The eastern seaboard of the US too from what I am told.

[jonboy]

The entire pacific basin is a tsunami zone. The eastern seaboard of the US too from what I am told.
Ah ha! knew there was a reason for living in Yurp

[TimH]

There have been some big tsunamis on the Med also.