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Fresh quake near Tonga, tsunami toll nears 200

Tim Wimborne Reuters 10/01/2009 19:38
Fresh quake near Tonga, tsunami toll nears 200 - Pacific Islands - Samoa - tsunami - natural disaster


Grieving Samoans buried their dead in unmarked beachside graves on Thursday as the gruesome task of recovering bodies from villages destroyed by four tsunamis continued and an aftershock shook the region.



Some Samoans started rebuilding their South Pacific paradise, clearing debris from shattered homes, but others remained in nearby mountains, afraid to return to the coast for fear the ocean will again turn deadly.

A fresh, smaller quake at magnitude 6.3 rattled the region south of Tonga on Friday, said the U.S. Geological Service. Tonga is west of the international dateline and a day ahead of Samoa.

The confirmed death toll from Tuesday's tsunamis, caused by an 8 magnitude undersea quake, stood at 149 in Samoa, 31 on American Samoa and nine on neighbouring Tonga.

Officials feared whole towns have been destroyed on outlying islands and hundreds of people remained missing.

Thousands of Samoans are homeless and hundreds injured. Many in the main hospital in the capital Apia have bruised faces and cuts on their arms and legs, scars from the deadly waves.

























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