WELLINGTON: A South Pacific tsunami killed an unknown number of people in Western Samoa on Wednesday, a local police spokeswoman said, as the island nation’s people fled to higher ground after a big sub-sea quake.
“The tsunami has struck some parts of the country,” a local police spokeswoman said by phone. Asked if there had been any deaths, she added: “Yes” and then hung up. The epicenter of the 8.0 magnitude quake was located 120 miles (190 km) southwest of American Samoa, which lies near Western Samoa, the US Geological Survey said.
Sea level readings indicated a tsunami was generated, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a branch of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said.
The agency earlier issued a tsunami warning for New Zealand, American Samoa and other small Pacific islands.
The West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said that a tsunami had been observed at Apia, Western Samoa, and at Pago Pago, American Samoa. The waves at Pago Pago were 5.1 feet (1.57 meters) above normal sea level. In Western Samoa, some residents told Radio New Zealand they had felt a big jolt and were recommended by authorities to move to higher ground.
Samoa resident Keni Lesa told AFP in the capital Apia that people were moving inland. “I’m taking my family to a safe place. Everyone’s getting out of coastal areas,” he said. But Lesa said there was no panic as “we have done a lot of training for this,” living on a low-lying island in an earthquake prone area.
There were no immediate reports of damage from the earthquake, apart from a few landslips.
An official from American Samoa told Fox television he had felt shaking for up to five minutes.
Police in Tonga said they had not received any word of the quake or tsunami warning yet.
