A 50-YEAR OLD Northern Tasmanian woman is believed to have been killed in the Samoan tsunami. Three other Australians are in hospital with six more unaccounted for.
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At least 36 people were killed after the massive undersea earthquake sent a tsunami crashing into the South Pacific islands of Samoa and American Samoa.
A DFAT spokeswoman said this afternoon a 50-year-old woman from Tasmania was dead, six were missing and three had been hospitalised after the disaster.
The quake measured up to 8.3 on the Richter scale and triggered tsunami alerts across the Pacific Ocean and waves up to eight metres on Samoa's south coast.
Do you know someone who was affected by the tsunami? Email us at mail@examiner.com.au
The quake struck southwest of Samoa and American Samoa in the South Pacific.
Three South Koreans are among the dead and one remains missing in American Samoa, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The injured Australians were hospitalised in the Samoan capital, Apia, after the disaster, the Federal Government said.
All were in a stable condition and had been able to contact their families, a spokesman for the international development assistance parliamentary secretary, Bob McMullan, said.
He said the Australians had indicated they did not require any consular assistance.
Australian ex-pat Ray Hunt said up to 40 bodies were being brought into the hospital in Apia, where he worked.
"We really have no idea how many people have been killed," he told The Age.
"They are still digging bodies out of the wreckage of the buildings that have fallen down.
"You live in Samoa, this is supposed to be paradise. But I can tell it’s not paradise. It’s hell on earth."
Samoa resident Bill Martin was just getting out of the shower when the quake hit.
"It all shook, shook, shook, the house moved, not just rattled, moved and the ground was shaking us, the trees," Mr Martin wrote in an email to The Age.
When he heard the tsunami alert siren, he ran.
"I look behind, others do the same, there is no wave, someone says it is coming, we run all the faster in the heat," he said.
Russell Hunter, editor of Samoa Observer, told The Age at least five people died in the Samoan beach village of Fautasi, which had been "devastated" by large waves after the powerful quake.
He said a journalist had reported the fatalities in the village, west of Apia, and the toll could be "in the hundreds". Many Samoans had fled to higher ground.
New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner in Samoa David Dolphin said there had been reports of six- to eight-metre waves on the southern coast of Samoa.
"There are reports of some quite serious damage, at least five fatalities and quite a few reports of people missing," he told NZPA.
Most of the damage appeared to be centred on Samoa's southern coast.
Mr Hunter said the deaths were caused by the waves, not the earthquake that shook locals from their beds about dawn and lasted about three minutes.
"I really thought my house was going to come down around my ears," he said. "It was shaking violently. I’ve been through a few earthquakes but this is the worst I have seen."
A group of New Zealand tourists watched from higher ground as the tsunami hit their resort on Samoa's southern coastline. They later saw the bodies of three young children wash towards them.
Colleen Preston told the Dargaville and Districts News her son was "traumatised" by the disaster.
"Most of the hotel they were staying at was washed away," she said.
Apia’s Tupua Tamasese Hospital told local radio the tsunami had killed at least three people – two believed to be children - and injured more than 50.
More people are believed to have died in neighbouring American Samoa, the US National Park Service said.
"I can confirm there is damage, I can confirm there are deaths and I can confirm there are casualties," a spokeswoman for the service said. "I cannot say any more at the moment."
The quake struck at 3.48am, or about dawn local time, at a depth of 33 kilometres, with the epicentre about 200 kilometres south-south-west of Apia.
The US Geological Survey measured the quake at a magnitude of 7.9. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre put it at 8.3. Australia's weather bureau said it measured 8.1.
The 2004 Boxing Day earthquake that created the devastating Asian tsunami measured about 9.
The tsunami swept into Pago Pago, capital of American Samoa, shortly after the earthquake, sending sea water surging inland about 100 metres before receding and leaving some cars stuck in mud.
New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale, near Apia, was levelled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," he told National Radio.
"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."
Wendy Booth, owner of the Sea Breeze Resort in Samoa, says she and her husband were nearly washed away by the tsunami.
"The second wave hit and came up through the floor, pushed out the back door and threw us outside," she told Fairfax Radio.
"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.
"The force of the wave took furniture through the roof. The furniture was pushed with the ferocity of the wave through the ceiling."
Another resort was also destroyed, resident Tony Manson said.
"It’s just written off," he told Fairfax Radio.
"The lagoon is awash with debris. I don’t know how many are dead, I know people are down there retrieving bodies at the moment."
With Mex Cooper,
ANYONE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WELFARE OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS CAN CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS EMERGENCY HOTLINE 1300 555 135.
