11 April 2014: Apia Samoa. In February 2011, the Christchurch Earthquake that resulted in the deaths of 185 people and losses estimated at up to NZD 40 billion was followed just 11 days later by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that brought tremendous losses to the people of Japan. In 2009, an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 resulted in a tsunami that caused the loss of 189 lives in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are part of life for people living in the ever-active Pacific "ring of fire", the name given to the geological area where the Earth's techtonic plates meet, causing a great deal of activity beneath the surface of the planet. However the devastation they cause never fails to result in sorrow and hardship.
Click here to read more: http://www.sprep.org/climate-change/tsunami-workshop-aims-to-improve-early-warning-and-preparedness
Source: SPREP website