The 29 September 2009 tsunami marked a dark chapter in Samoa’s history after the natural disaster was triggered by two large quakes at that time. The earthquakes measured 8.1 and 8.0 on the Richter scale and led to massive waves of up to 22 meters (72 feet) which upon getting to the shore killed about 192 people in Samoa, American Samoa, and Niuatoputapu in Tonga. Samoa had the highest number of casualties out of the three island nations with 149 perishing when the deluge destroyed houses and villages resulting in millions of tala in damages.

Over a decade after the tsunami, families in Samoa that were directly impacted by the natural disaster, continue to pick up the pieces from that harrowing Tuesday morning. Preparedness measures initiated by the relevant Government agencies have also gone up a notch with villages, schools and even churches now playing key roles in evacuation drills in anticipation of a future earthquake. There were also families, who felt the brunt of the tsunami, and chose to relocate after the natural disaster and rebuilt their lives away from the coastline of Upolu.

Most families from Leusoalii on the north coast of Upolu moved further inland after the 2009 earthquake and tsunami and close to 14 years later are now thriving in their mountain homes. The Samoa Observer visited some of the Leusoalii families last Saturday and got to hear their stories, having relocated from their seaside homes where their families lived for hundreds of years, to now take up residence in the mountain.

The family of Ana Mulitalo, 62, was one of the first ones to move up to the mountain and built her home with her family members. She said the 2009 tsunami was the reason she and her family decided to relocate to the mountainside.

"Talking about the tsunami in 2009, it's the main reason why we decided to live on the mountain and we're the first ones to do so in 2013 and we later managed to convince most of the other families to move up here and have a feel of what we're feeling with how the air is up here," she told this newspaper in an interview. "When we moved here at the end of 2013, our water was connected although from the unmetered water supply and we started building our first house before we connected our power in 2014.”

The decision by Mrs. Mulitalo and her family to migrate up the mountain – some 500 to 700 metres further inland – is a response that would confront any other family and force them to make in the aftermath of a disaster. Today, exactly 10 years after leaving the Leusoalii coastline, it is obvious that Mrs. Mulitalo and her family are happy with the choice that they’ve made and they did not hesitate to talk about its long-term benefits.

"It's a massive change and it's much better because we now have to worry less about anything, especially when earthquakes strike, usually before when we were still living on the coastal sides, we would always run up to the mountain whenever there's earthquakes but not anymore.”

Her family has even offered shelter to other villagers, who still live on the coast and in recent years experienced earthquakes, and were directed by the local authorities to evacuate and go inland. It takes a lot of confidence, not to mention family time and resources, to begin a new life on the mountain. But the benefits that come with taking your family out of harm’s way are immense and long-term, and it was obvious when this newspaper visited the families, including that of Mrs. Mulitalo’s living up on the mountain. The family members were out and about, carefree, without having to worry about looking over their shoulders, or at an endless mass of sea to worry about the next big wave.

With Samoa located within the Pacific Ring of Fire, you can be assured that the country will continue to experience earthquakes and potential tsunamis, which means populations that are currently living on the coastline of either Upolu or Savai’i (or Manono and Apolima) remain vulnerable in this geological hotspot.

But the risks associated with exposure to natural disasters such as tsunamis can be reduced if families are encouraged to move further inland so they are out of harm’s way. Perhaps one incentive that the Samoa Government can offer to families, who are considering such an offer, is for the State to offer to connect water and electricity services at no cost to the migrating families. Mrs. Mulitalo and her family made that call a decade ago to move further inland, and while they have electricity today, they are not yet connected to a water supply network like most families in Samoa. 

It is time for the Government to be proactive and reward citizens who are already thinking ahead and making the right choices for their families, which over the long-term can save the State thousands of tala in emergency costs, and more importantly, save lives.