It’s the tenth anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated much of the south coast of the two Samoas and Tonga's northern most islands.
2009's 8.3 magnitude quake was the most powerful that year and struck shortly before 7am (New Zealand time. (30 Sept in NZ)
RNZI reports the subsequent tsunami waves killed 189 people. 149 in Samoa, 31 in American Samoa and nine in Tonga.
Memorial church services are being held to commemorate the tragedy.
1 News reports survivors and families of the victims marched in the dark along Main South Coast Road in Lalomanu, before arriving at the Taufua Beach Fales for a memorial service. The fales were rebuilt after the original Taufua Beach Fales were completely destroyed in the tsunami and 14 people in the wider Taufua family, who owned the huts, were killed.
Survivors spoke about their experiences, sharing heroic stories and paid tribute to the family members they lost. Some of the New Zealand survivors who came back to commemorate 10 years since the disaster, thanked the Samoan people for their hospitality and for taking such good care of them in the days after.
Photo file AFP