At least 100 killed as tsunami strikes American Samoa

Sydney: A series of tsunamis smashed into the Pacific island nations of American and Western Samoa killing possibly more than 100 people, destroying villages and injuring hundreds, officials said on Wednesday.

US President Barack Obama declared American Samoa, a US territory, a major disaster and ordered Federal aid to help recovery efforts, with a US C-130 military transport aircraft due to leave Honolulu for the tiny South Pacific island.

New Zealand's government said there were serious concerns about the neighbouring island nation of Tonga after a 4-metre (13-foot) wave hit its northern coast. Tongan officials said they feared five people had been killed.

A Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued after an 8.0 magnitude undersea quake off American Samoa, with reports of a small tsunami reaching New Zealand and rising sea levels in several South Pacific island nations.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled its Pacific-wide warning, but Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a local tsunami warning for its east coast, warning of a possible small tsunami.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later issued an advisory that small tsunami waves had reached Hawaii, warning the waves could be dangerous to swimmers and boats.

The Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, which killed about 2,30,000 people across 11 countries, was the worst on record.

Bodies buried in sand

Shortly after local radio tsunami warnings were issued in American and Western Samoa, waves started crashing into the capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago, and villages and resorts on the southern coasts of the tiny island nations, witnesses said.

"It's believed as of now, there could be a number close to 100 deaths," said Ausegalia Mulipola, assistant chief executive of Western Samoa's disaster management office.

"They are still continuing the searches for any missing bodies in the area," Mulipola told Reuters, adding the southern side of the country's main island Upolu was the worst hit.

"There have been reports of villages, where most of the houses have been run over by the sea," he said.

"Some areas have been flattened and the tsunami had brought a lot of sand onshore, so there have been reports the sand has covered some of the bodies. So we need specialised machines to search for bodies that are burried under the sand."

The owner of the Samoan resort Sea Breeze on the southside of Upolu island said they were almost washed away when the waves destroyed their resort.

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"The second wave hit and came up through the floor, pushed out the back door and threw us outside," Wendy Booth told Fairfax Radio Network in Australia.

"We managed to hang on to a handrail. My husband and I just hung on to each other and the handrail and then that one (wave) went, but the suckout was tremendous," she said.

"The force of the wave took furniture through the roof. The furniture was pushed with the ferocity of the wave through the ceiling."

Swept away

In American Samoa, a US territory, the death toll was officially 14, but could rise, said officials.

"The whole southern side of the island is devastated," said Soloalii Faalepo, executive director of the American Samoan government office in Honolulu.

A series of four waves hit Pago Pago, swamping the harbourside business centre and temporarily closing the airport.

Yachtsman Wayne Hodgins, who was in Pago Pago harbour, said he had heard of people being swept away.

"There was a couple and a young boy, they were clinging to the lifestandard. The water came and went very, very quickly, but it was absolutely ferocious," Hodgins told American media.

American Samoa tourism chief David Vaeafe said water levels rose about three minutes after the tsunami warning, with small villages around the capital devastated.

"Water had come up to the first floor. The radio station was evacuated, a lot of damage, structural damage to the steel and brick structure," Vaeafe told Australia's Sky Television.

There were reports of looting in Pago Pago as people flocked into supermarkets to stockpile supplies.

The tsunami caused waves of 1.5 metres above normal sea level off American Samoa, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. But there were unconfirmed reports of waves up to 4 metres.

Hundreds of people, including tourists, fled coastal homes and resorts to higher ground in both nations.

"As of right now, everybody is up in the high mountain ranges," said Senetenari Malele, announcer for local radio station Showers of Blessings in American Samoa.