Quake, tsunami take Samoan members' lives
By Jason SwensenChurch News staff writer
Published: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009
Eight Latter-day Saints, including two children, were killed and two others hospitalized in the Samoan islands after a Sept. 29 magnitude 8.0 undersea quake triggered a deadly tsunami that wiped out several villages and sent residents scrambling for high ground.
Meanwhile, local priesthood leaders report that there are members who remain unaccounted for. Communication has reportedly been spotty in some affected areas because of damaged telephone lines.
All of the full-time missionaries assigned to the impacted areas in the South Pacific have been accounted for with the exception of two sister missionaries serving in the Tongan island of Niuatoputapu. The sisters are believed to be fine because their names did not appear on a government-produced casualty list from the island. (Editor's note: As of Friday, these two sister missionaries have been accounted for. See the lds.org newsroom blog for an account of the sisters' story: Newsroom blog) Also, they were serving in a area untouched by the tsunami, according to Lynn Samsel of the Church's Emergency Response office. Both sister missionaries are native to the region. At press time, Tonga Nuku'alofa Mission President Lynn C. McMurray was traveling by boat to Niuatoputapu to check on the sisters.
The Apia Samoa Temple suffered no structural damage following the quake and subsequent tsunami — although the horn from the Angel Moroni statue atop the temple somehow snapped off and fell to the ground.
Two meetinghouses on Samoa's main island of Upolu reportedly suffered severe water damage. Meanwhile, flood water inundated the lower level of the Fa'aala stake center on the neighboring island of Savaii.
There are also reports of extensive damage to member homes in Samoa and Tonga.
Brother Samsel said local priesthood leaders are attending to the temporal and spiritual needs of the Samoan members. Meanwhile, the Church is sending additional food, clothing and other relief items to the islands. The Church is also working with the American Red Cross, which is sending a large contingent of emergency responders to the Samoas.
"It's sad," said Samoa Apia Mission President O. Vincent Haleck Jr. "We have had lives lost here. There is a lot of devastation along the south coast of Upolu."
The massive quake struck around dawn, as many residents were preparing for work and getting their children ready for school, according to the New York Times News Service. Damage was expected to be heaviest in the southern parts of Samoa and in American Samoa.
The temblor originated below the ocean about 120 miles southwest of American Samoa and 125 miles south of Samoa. It was centered some 11 miles below the seabed, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake occurred just as missionaries in Samoa were involved in transfers, so there were several missionaries gathered at the mission home in Apia. President Haleck said the rumbling seemed to last as long as three minutes.
Local residents are said to be devastated by the extensive damage and loss of life caused by the earthquake/tsunami. One Church official in the area said of the situation in the southern area of the Samoan island of Upolu, "There was no adequate language to describe the devastation which appears like a war zone."
Elder Elliott Miller is a full-time missionary from Brentwood, Tenn., who was serving in the village of Malaela on the southeast coast of Upolu when the earthquake struck. He shared his harrowing experience in the moments following the quake with his mother, Angie Miller. Sister Miller passed along his account via e-mail with the Church News:
"A [man] who was up working on a hill called down that a tsunami was coming. Elliott didn't think it was serious...he went outside to see what was going on and saw people running and screaming toward the forest. He grabbed some sneakers and started running too. He picked up some kids and started running with them. His companion turned around and the water was right behind them. There was no high ground to go to so they ran to some trees and climbed them. As he got up in the tree the water hit the tree and started rising quickly. [Elder Miller] said the water came up about five feet and started pulling on the tree. He was afraid the tree would be pulled out and taken out to sea. Pretty soon the water receded and they got down from the tree and ran deeper into the woods."
Elder Miller lost essentially all of his belongings, but his family calls it fortunate that he and others survived the tsunami. He and his companion were brought to the mission home.
In all, there were more than 100 reported fatalities in American Samoa and Samoa with many more missing. The extensive damage in some villages has left thousands homeless.
President Haleck said the missionaries will be used to help out wherever they can. "We are trying to get organized," he said.
As of press time, the catastrophe had left Samoan members living in the United States sick with worry as they tried hour after hour to make contact with loved ones living in impacted areas.
"Most Samoans have relatives living in both American Samoa and Western Samoa," said Abraham Roe, an LDS Samoan who lives in South Jordan, Utah.
Brother Roe said his family has tried repeatedly to contact family members in the Samoas, with no success. "We're just praying, watching the news and hoping for the best."
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