Some Background on Samoa
With the recent tsunami that struck Samoa, We thought it would be nice to put a little info about the area to help fellow lazy slobs sound and act a little more knowledgeable without having to do much of the legwork. We are not going to go into detail about the tsunami itself as there is already way to much information out there about it and frankly, much more accurate and informative than we could provide. Suffice it to say that an earthquake measuring 8+ on the Richter Scale, with an epicenter about 250 miles from Western Samoa (More on that later) sent three or four 25ft wave onto the shore of Samoa and as of this writing, about 100 people are confirmed dead. Now that we have covered the basics on the event, we can move onto some of our comments to help increase your edification and conversation index. As measured by office and friend know-it-alls.

A 25 foot wave doesn’t sound so big. How was it so destructive?
Couple of things that need consideration with the size of the waves. The volume of water in a 25 footer (not to mention 4 of them) is huge. Considering that a gallon of water is approx 8 lbs, multiply that by how many gallons would be in the make-up of a 25 foot wave in say a 10 foot wide section (or the width of a typical driveway), and you have a big number. Combine that with the fact that the shoreline buildings and homes are built on sand, and that areas closest to the equator do not get tides of any measurable amount so buildings can be much closer to the shore without great risk of flooding. That is a recipe for disaster.

Napkin Math If You Please
A 55-Gallon drum stands about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide and deep. A 10 foot section would then represent 5 drums wide by 8 (24 feet) drums high. Lets estimate that the wave is 25 feet thick but has diminishing height away from the peak so calculate against half that for volume or only 7 drums deep. Might be low but again, this is only napkin math…we are lazy slobs and love the art of estimation. That gives us 280 drums at 440 pounds each or nearly 62 tons of water. A fully loaded 18-wheeler is 20 tons so this would be three of them stacked on top of each other. That is a lot of weight for a small section of driveway. Now consider them side by side for 10 miles and you begin to get the picture. Finally, we have to factor in the speed at which the waves were moving, 20 miles an hour. That is a heck of a force against buildings not in a position to handle them.

Some Facts About Samoa
Samoa (or Samoan) Islands were formerly known as the Navigators’ Islands. They are a part of Polynesia in the South Pacific. About 215 thousand people live there and English and Samoan are the dual official languages. There are two territories of the Samoa islands. Samoa, formally called Western Samoa or Independent Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory, also called Eastern Samoa.

If you like tropical climates, you would love Samoa. The temperature stays relatively flat all year round at around 80 degrees. There are Wet and Dry seasons so take note if you ever plan on visiting.

Enjoy and we hope you have been able to gleam some useful info for smart conversation. We would love your comments so please feel free to leave one.