Vaipoa is one of three villages on the island of Niuatoputapu

Niuatoputapu

For the 2009 tsunami, see the main article: 2009 Samoa tsunami.Niuatoputapu is an island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its name means sacred island. Older European names for the island are Traitors island or Keppel island.Niuatoputapu is located in the north of the country,...

 in Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

.

The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Falehau

Falehau

Falehau is a village on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga.The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Vaipoa and Hihifo, the main village on the island.Falehau was extensively damaged in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami....

 and Hihifo

Hihifo

Hihifo is the main village on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga.Hihifo is situated on the west side of Niuatoputapu and is the main centre for public and government facilities for the island residents, with a post office and police station.The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Falehau and...

, the main village on the island.

Niuatoputapu was extensively damaged in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami

2009 Samoa earthquake

The 2009 Samoa earthquake was an 8.1 Mw submarine earthquake that took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on September 29, 2009 . At a magnitude of 8.1, it was the largest earthquake of 2009....

 with a number of fatalities.

The tsunami followed an earthquke of an 8.0 M_w

Moment magnitude scale

The moment magnitude scale is used by seismologists to measure the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released. The magnitude is based on the seismic moment of the earthquake, which is equal to the rigidity of the Earth multiplied by the average amount of slip on the fault and the size of...

 earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 in the Samoan Islands

Samoan Islands

The Samoan Islands or Samoa Islands is an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and the wider region of Oceania...

 region at 06:48:11 local time on 29 September 2009 (17:48:11 UTC

Coordinated Universal Time

Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...

).