Earthquakes in Samoa

In Samoa there are very strong earthquakes with far-reaching consequences. Earthquakes with a magnitude of over 8.0 destroy numerous houses within a radius of several hundred kilometers and are causing great damage and devastation. Due to the special tectonic situation of the country, there are more earthquakes than average.

Other natural hazards in Samoa:
› Tsunamis
› Cyclones
› The most severe natural disasters worldwide

Back to overview: Samoa

Most recent events

This list includes the strongest earthquakes recorded in or around Samoa by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the past 14 days. Whether an event is listed here depends largely on its magnitude, but also on its distance from inhabited areas. All data refer to the local time. This page is updated daily at 11am UTC.

Sept. 23, 5:18 am
Magnitude 5.2: 113 km north-northeast of Hihifo, Tonga at a depth of 20.53 km.
Oct. 2, 12:41 pm
Magnitude 4.9: 121 km south-southwest of Lotofag? at a depth of five km.

Earthquakes in Samoa since 1950

The strongest earthquake in Samoa happened on 09/29/2009 in the region Samoa Islands with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale. The earthquake also triggered a tsunami with further victims and destructions.

Date	Region	Depth	Magnitude
09/29/2009	Samoa Islands	10 km	8.1
09/28/2006	Samoa Islands	9 km	6.9
04/07/1995	Apia; American Samoa (Pago Pago; Niue)	56 km	7.4
09/01/1981	Apia; American Samoa (Pago Pago)	31 km	7.7
04/02/1977	Apia	22 km	7.6
12/26/1975	Samoa Islands	38 km	7.8
04/14/1957	Samoa Islands		7.5

These statistics are based on datas from the National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Significant Earthquake Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Several data have been summarized and translated.

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