Niuatoputapu women from Hihifo fishing (1969)

Hihifo is the main village on the island of

Niuatoputapu Niuatoputapu is a high island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older European names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. Niuatoputapu is ...

in the Kingdom of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. Hihifo (which means 'west' in the

Tongan language Tongan (English pronunciation: or ; ') is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch native to the island nation of Tonga. It has around 187,000 speakers. It uses the word order verb–subject–object. Related languages Tongan is one ...

) is situated on the west side of Niuatoputapu and is the main centre for public and government facilities that serve the island residents, including a post office and police station. The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are

Falehau Falehau is a village on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga. The population is 218. The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Hihifo, which is the main village on the island, and Vaipoa. Falehau was extensively damaged by the 2009 Samoa earth ...

and

Vaipoa Vaipoa is one of three villages on the island of Niuatoputapu in Tonga. The population is 172. The other two villages on Niuatoputapu are Hihifo, which is the main village on the island, and Falehau. Niuatoputapu was extensively damaged in the 20 ...

. The population of the village is 301 (as of 2021).

Overview

Hihifo was extensively damaged in the

2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami took place on 29 September 2009 in the southern Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone. The submarine earthquake occurred in an extensional environment and had a moment magnitude of 8.1 ...

with a number of fatalities. The tsunami followed an 8.0

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in the

Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands ( sm, Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa a ...

region at 06:48:11 local time on September 29, 2009 (17:48:11 UTC).Magnitude 8.0 - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
Report o
U.S. Geological Service
s website. Retrieved online d.d. September 29, 2009.

References

External links

– ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' Populated places in Niuas {{Tonga-geo-stub