The death toll from a massive South Pacific earthquake and tsunami has risen to at least 36 and is expected to rise significantly, officials said.There were 22 confirmed dead in American Samoa and 14 in Samoa with unconfirmed reports of scores more missing feared dead following the 8.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami.‘We have 22 confirmed dead and it could go much higher,’ Michael Sala, Homeland Security director in American Samoa, told AFP. ‘It could take a week or so before we know the full extent.’ The eastern part of American Samoa was without power and water supplies after the devastating earthquake, which struck at 6:48 am. Sala said it was the wall of water, which he estimated at 25-feet high, which did most of the damage as it swept ashore about 20 minutes after the earthquake, demolishing buildings in coastal areas. Red Cross officials in Samoa put the initial death toll at 14 but said it would probably rise as communications were re-established with outlying areas where villages were flattened by the tsunami. A powerful Pacific Ocean earthquake spawned towering tsunami waves that swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa early Tuesday, flattening villages, killing dozens of people and leaving several workers missing at devastated National Park Service facilities. Cars and people were swept out to sea by the fast-churning water as survivors fled to high ground, where they remained huddled hours later. Signs of devastation were everywhere, with a giant boat getting washed ashore and coming to rest on the edge of a highway and floodwaters swallowing up cars and homes. The quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn about 20 miles below the ocean floor, 120 miles from American Samoa, a US territory that is home to 65,000 people. Hampered by power and communications outages, officials hours later struggled to assess the damage and casualties. American Samoa Gov. Togiola Tulafono said at least 50 were injured, in addition to the deaths. America Samoa is home to a US national park that appeared to be especially hard-hit. Holly Bundock, spokeswoman for the National Park Service’s Pacific West Region in Oakland, Calif., said the superintendent of the park and another staffers had been able to locate only 20 percent of the park’s 13 to 15 employees and 30 to 50 volunteers. Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet high roared ashore soon afterward, reaching up to a mile inland. Holly Bundock, spokeswoman for the National Park Service’s Pacific West Region in Oakland, California, said Reynolds spoke to officials from under a coconut tree uphill from Pago Pago Harbor and reported that the park’s visitor centre and offices appeared to have been destroyed. Residents in both Samoa and American Samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake, which lasted two to three minutes. The initial quake was followed by at least three aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a general alert from American Samoa to New Zealand; Tonga suffered some coastal damage from 13-foot waves. New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was levelled. ‘It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out,’ Ansell told New Zealand’s National Radio from a hill near Samoa’s capital, Apia. ‘There’s not a building standing. We’ve all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need ‘round here.’ The Samoan capital was virtually deserted with schools and businesses closed. Local media said they had reports of landslides in the Solosolo region of the main Samoan island of Upolu and damage to plantations in the countryside outside Apia. Rescue workers found a scene of destruction and debris with cars overturned or stuck in mud, and rockslides hit some roads. Several students were seen ransacking a gas station-convenience store.Eni Faleomavaega, who represents American Samoa as a non-voting delegate in the US House, said he had talked to people by telephone who said that Pago Pago – just a few feet above sea level – was levelled. Several hundred people had their homes destroyed, although getting more concrete information has been difficult, he said. Chicken of the Sea’s tuna packing plant in American Samoa was closed after the tsunami hit, although the facility wasn’t damaged, the San Diego-based company said in a statement. Tuna canneries are American Samoa’s dominant industry, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of all economic activity. Prior to the tsunami, Chicken of the Sea had announced plans to close the plant on Wednesday, laying off more than 2,100 workers. Rear Adm. Manson Brown, Coast Guard commander for the Pacific region, said the Coast Guard is in the early stages of assessing what resources to send to American Samoa. Coast Guard spokesman Lt. John Titchen said a C-130 was being dispatched Wednesday from Hawaii to deliver aid, assess damage and take the governor back home. A New Zealand air force P3 Orion maritime search airplane also was being sent. One of the runways at Pago Pago International Airport was being cleared of widespread debris for emergency use, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in Los Angeles.
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