A surfer from New Zealand has recounted how he survived the Pacific tsunami this week by riding out the succession of waves for almost an hour clutching his board.
When the 8,3 magnitude quake struck on Wednesday morning, Chris Nel was catching waves on the south coast of Samoa’s north-western island of Savai’i with five companions.
“All of a sudden the water went real weird, it kind of glassed off and got real lumpy, then we started moving real quick, getting sucked out to sea,” Nel said.
“It was pretty scary looking back and seeing the reef completely dried up. It looked like a volcanic riverbed – it was just gone.”
A big spurt of water then hit the shore, Nel told the Dominion Post.
“I was thinking, ‘this is it, we’re going to get washed away and smashed into the jungle.'”
Nel said he and his companions spent up to 45 minutes floating and trying to time the surges so they could ride in without being smashed on the coral or the beach.
Once ashore they realised their surf camp had been destroyed and most of their belongings washed away.
“I found one of my surfboards in the jungle,” said Nel who flew out in a pair of jeans he found in the jungle.
Nel’s tale of survival comes as another two earthquakes struck about 150km off the coasts of Samoa and Tonga. The US Geological Survey said the quakes had magnitudes of 5,1 and 4,9, much weaker than Wednesday’s jolt. No tsunami alerts were issued.
Of the 189 people who have died so far, 149 were in Samoa, 31 were in American Samoa and nine were in Tonga.
In Samoa people are traditionally buried in their village, but as many of the communities have been swept away the government is planning a mass burial next Tuesday. – guardian.co.uk