The September 29 earthquake, that spawned a massive tsunami killing more than 100 people in American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga, was the strongest quake in 2009.
According to statistics released by the U.S. Geological Survey, the September 29th quake although not the deadliest in 2009, was the year's strongest earthquake, a magnitude 8.1 in the Samoa Islands region.
Tsunamis generated by that earthquake killed 184 people in American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.
Of the tsunami casualties, 34 were in American Samoa.
The deadliest quake of 2009 was a magnitude 7.5 event that killed about 1,100 people in southern Sumatra, Indonesia on September 30th.
The statistics also show that two very strong earthquakes - in August and October- were felt throughout the Samoan islands in 2009.
According to USGS, at least 1,783 deaths worldwide resulted from earthquake activity in 2009.
