Quake Damages NOAA’s American Samoa Observatory

For Station Chief It’s Survival, Then Service

Katy Human and Mark Cunningham
NOAA Earth Science Research Laboratory

October 7, 2009 — The Earth shook and the massive waves rolled in, but NOAA’s American Samoa Observatory endured. And so has NOAA’s Mark Cunningham.

In a recent e-mail dispatched from the battered island, Cunningham, who is the station chief of the atmospheric observatory in American Samoa, wrote that he, his family, and the observatory’s groundskeeper are fine following a major undersea earthquake that triggered deadly tsunami waves on Tuesday, Sept 29. At least 140 people died that day on the islands of Samoa and American Samoa, according to news reports. The groundskeeper’s home also was washed away.

Cunningham works for NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, which runs a network of five baseline atmospheric observatories that continuously monitor the composition of the atmosphere and solar radiation. The American Samoa Observatory sits on the northeastern tip of Tutuila Island, perched on a ridge about 42 meters above the South Pacific Ocean.

Jim Butler, director of ESRL’s Global Monitoring Division, has spoken with Cunningham by mobile phone every day since the earthquake and tsunami. According to Cunningham, the NOAA observatory sustained damage, the extent of which is still under evaluation. Vehicles were waterlogged, photovoltaic panels and a water pump system were damaged, and instruments broken during the shaking.

In the hours following the tsunami, Cunningham’s main focus was ferrying people from devastated, low-lying areas to the higher observatory site, and providing them shelter. The NOAA observatory has become the second largest designated shelter area in American Samoa due to its elevated location and substantial self-supporting infrastructure, which includes electricity.

“Once again, Mark is a hero when heroes are called for,” Butler said. “We owe him a lot.”

A Close Call … And Then a Call to Duty

Cunningham reported that he was driving to work Tuesday morning when his wife called to tell him there had been an undersea earthquake. He told her to get herself and their child to high ground immediately, while he proceeded toward the observatory. As he neared the village of Fongaitua, Cunningham saw the sea quickly recede before an initial wave washed over the road. He quickly drove to a higher, sheltered spot.

“The second wave came in and flooded the village,” wrote Cunningham. “The third wave battered down walls and carried away buildings. From the cab of my vehicle, I watched the fourth wave crest over the hood of my truck. It floated the front of the truck up and spun me around in a number of 360-degree turns, finally depositing me up against the concrete terrace that I sheltered against.”

It took him several hours to drive just five miles to the observatory. Cunningham stopped many times along the way to help people who needed assistance, at times wading through water to help clear trees, boulders, vehicles and dead animals out of the road. When Cunningham reached the observatory, he shut it down temporarily, turning off leaking gas lines and other equipment that he suspected might have suffered damage by the quake. He then headed back down the hill in his truck and started shuttling people from Tula village up to the observatory site.

That Tuesday night (Sept. 29), about 100 people camped in the covered carport of the observatory and within its air-conditioned confines. That evening, Cunningham carefully inspected the observatory equipment, taking note of any problems that required fixing. He began repairs on Wednesday, after consulting with his ESRL colleagues. Most of the observatory’s instruments — which gather data on greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting chemicals, air pollutants, solar radiation and other matter — will be offline temporarily, pending repairs. Much work remains to be done, but both NOAA’s observatory and the local area are expected to recover.

Double ‘Jeopardy’
                                                     
This is not the first time Cunningham has worked to help NOAA and others through a natural disaster. He received a Bronze Medal from NOAA’s Workforce Management Office in 2005, following the 2004 tsunami. The award praised Cunningham’s service in restoring operations to the American Samoa Observatory, which had been pounded by 90-foot-high waves.

NOAA requests that media, concerned colleagues, and others not attempt to contact Cunningham, who needs to remain focused on the needs of his family, his community, and the NOAA observatory. Necessary communications may be sent to Jim Butler, Director of Global Monitoring, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, 303-497-6898.

*Please note: Even if you don’t live in a tsunami-prone area, you may travel somewhere that is. It’s important that you and your loved ones know what to do to survive. To learn more, please read NOAA’s Tsunami Awareness story posted online.