Other Obseravtions of the Tsunami on Fatu Hiva

 

Along the shores of Fatu Hiva's other town, Hanavave, the tsunami was observed as a small surge that rose about 1 m above normal sea level. It caused no damage and was not widely noticed.
Christophe Ruscher and a witness on the western coast of Fatu Hiva

There was one other observation of the tsunami. A local man was inspecting fire damage to some fields on the coast when he noticed a large wave surging along the shore. From the location in the photo, below he said he saw the water rise to the level of the vegetation then recede bringing with it a large anount of plant debris and muddy water. We hiked down to the cove in the distance and noted the height of the vegetation line. As you can see in the lowest picture, it was a height of some 4 to 5 meters. The eyewitness described seeing the wave propagate as a stem wave perpendicular to the shore line from the south to the north.

 

This is the cove visible in the upper photo. You can see Christophe standing on the rocks for scale.

 

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