Alofau (Samoan: Ālōfau) is a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
on the southeast coast of
Tutuila Island
Tutuila is the largest and most populous island of American Samoa and is part of the archipelago of the Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Pacific Ocean, Central Pacific. It is located roughly north ...
,
American Samoa
American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. Centered on , it is southeast of the island count ...
. It is located at the eastern end of
Faga'itua Bay, six miles east of
Pago Pago
Pago Pago ( or ; Samoan language, Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County, American Samoa, Maoputasi County on Tutuila ...
, between
Pagai and
Amouli
Āmouli is a village on the southeast coast of Tutuila Island, American Samoa at the narrowest point of the island. It is located to the west of 'Au'asi, immediately to the south of ʻAoa on the north coast. It was home to 920 residents at the ...
. It is home to
Alofau Village Marine Protected Area. It is an agrarian and traditional village. It is also a poor village with residents with low literacy and high unemployment rates. As of the
U.S. census in 2000, the per capita income was $4,357 and 67 percent of children were below the poverty line. 15.6 percent of residents were receiving public assistance. It is lauded as a kava place in the
Manu'a Songs. Alofau is located in
Sa'Ole County.
Alofau Volcano is a major named volcano on Tutuila Island, although it is sometimes regarded as part of
Pago Volcano.
Great surfing conditions can be found in
Faga'itua Bay near Alofau.
An Adventist congregation had been established in the village by 1956.
Geology
Alofau Volcano consists of thin-bedded aa and
pāhoehoe
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or unde ...
flows, breccias, dikes, and tuffs exposed in a shield-shaped dome. The volcanic dome covers around 2,4 km
2. on the east side of
Faga'itua Bay. The volcano is built over a rift zone trending northeast–southwest. The lava flows are thinly bedded primitive
olivine basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron ( mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% ...
s, dipping 10-20 degrees away from Alofau village. A dike complex is exposed on the road southeast of
Fagaitua village, while another 130 dikes are exposed in a promontory on the north side of Alofau. Large numbers of dikes are also seen south of Alofau village.
Demographics
Notable people
*
Faauuga Suesue Lutu Achica, president of the National Women’s Council of American Samoa and the Chairperson of the American Samoa Red Cross.
[Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). ''Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000''. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Pages 2-3. ISBN 9829036022.]
See also
*
Alofau Village Marine Protected Area
References
Villages in American Samoa
{{AmericanSamoa-geo-stub