I just watched on the news this devastating Earthquake and tidal wave, not Tsunami, they said, but a 20 foot wave sounds like a tsunami.. One wave though had destroyed an entire community, washed out to sea an d hundred or so could be deceased and 100's injured.

An eyewitness on a boat watched helplessly as a mother and child were thrown ingot the water, he and other larger boats had moved out to see when the water receded. One eyewitness on the news stated that one wave was over 20 feet high.

http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20090930&t=2&i=11771405&w=450&r=2009-09-30T021938Z_01_BTRE58T06GW00_RTROPTP_0_QUAKE-PACIFIC
A view of the Sinalei resort, south of Apia, capital of Samoa, after it was struck by a tsunami September 30, 2009.
REUTERS/via Your View

* 8.0 undersea quake triggers Pacific tsunami alert
* Reports people swept out to sea
* Villages flattened, search for bodies in sand (Updates with latest death toll, quotes, changes dateline)

By Michael Perry

SYDNEY, Sept 30 (Reuters) - 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.

A Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued after a huge 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 warning, but Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a local tsunami warning for the country's eastern coast, warning of a possible tsunami of 50 cm (2 feet).

The Indian Ocean tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004 killed about 230,000 people across 11 countries.

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."

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

FIVE TSUNAMI WAVES

Original Article
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/869500/australians-in-hospital-after-quake

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

At least seven Australians have been injured and there are concerns there could be more, after a tsunami hit the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.

There are now 34 people confirmed dead in Samoa and American Samoa after the earthquake and tsunami, but officials are estimating the death toll could rise to more than 100.

At least three Australians would be hospitalised overnight, Mr Smith said. (Watch more: Quake triggers tsunami)

"The advice I have ... is that we know at this stage seven Australians have been injured," Mr Smith told ABC Radio from Singapore.

Officials hold concerns about an Australian woman who was reported to be in difficulty by one of the injured. (Read more: Samoa resort destroyed by tsunami)

Mr Smith said he had spoken to officials and Australia's high commissioner to Samoa, who said it was difficult to get precise information about remote areas in the island nation. (Watch more: Tsunami flattens Samoan villages)

He said there were fears about the damage to the south-east of the island where Australians could be holidaying. (MAP: Path of destruction)

"Unfortunately that is where a lot of the luxury resorts and budget resorts are.

"We're concerned that a lot of Australians may be holidaying there."

Samoan resident Bill Martin described how a "beautiful morning" turned into a nightmare.

"As I got out of the shower it hit," he was quoted by The Age as saying.

"Run I said to my wife, 'Get out of the house quick'. We went outside and I grabbed a sheet to wear. It was stuck in the door as it closed behind me. It all shook, shook, shook, the house moved, not just rattled, moved and the ground was shaking us, the trees.

Mr Martin managed to get to high ground but became separated from his wife.

"The phones are jammed, she should be home safely if it is real. We have had practice before, with advance warning, so many stayed home. As I hurried out of the office and half-heartedly ran, a police van drives past yelling in Samoan it is real. I look behind, others do the same, there is no wave, someone says it is coming. We run all the faster in the heat."

Mr Smith said a taskforce would be dispatched to Samoa to reinforce Australian officials in the country in the next 24 hours.

The safety of all Australian officials and their families had been verified, he said.

Mr Smith said Australia had indicated to Samoa it could offer assistance but the Samoan government had not yet responded to the offer. "Australia stands ready, willing and able to render any assistance we can," he said.

" alt="[linked image]">&width=310

Four Australians killed in tsunami
Yahoo!7 October 1, 2009, 9:56 am

Original Article
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6130277/four-australians-killed-in-tsunami/




Relief workers in American Samoa and Samoa on Thursday searched for survivors after a series of tsunamis smashed into the tiny Pacific islands, killing more than 119 people and flattening villages.

Homes have been ripped apart, cars submerged in the sea or lodged in trees and large fishing boats hurled ashore by the waves generated by a 8.0 magnitude quake southwest of American Samoa.

Photos: Tsunami strikes Samoa

Some victims were washed out to sea by waves that reached at least 6m high.

Survivors of the tsunami feel the death toll will rise sharply with "truckloads of bodies" being picked up where a wall of water swept ashore in the worst hit areas.

A second 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra late Wednesday, prompting the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre to issue a tsunami watch for Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

Videos
Pacific tragedy
Samoan resident speaks
Survivors return to Australia

US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa and ordered federal aid to help recovery efforts. Two US C-130 transport planes were due to arrive there on Thursday, the beginning of an air bridge that will bring in relief workers and supplies.

The Australian government said four Australians, including a six-year-old girl, Ballarat school teacher Vivian Hodgins, 55, and Tasmanian woman Maree Blacker, who was on holiday celebrating her 50th birthday, were killed with up to six others missing.

Authorities also confirmed the death of a two-year-old New Zealand citizen with permanent Australian residency.

"It does look like there will be substantial loss of life in Samoa," said Australian Aid Minister Bob McMullan.

In Washington, Mr Obama offered his condolences and said the United States was sending help to American Samoa.

"We also stand ready to help our friends in neighbouring Samoa and throughout the region and we will continue to monitor this situation closely as we keep the many people who have been touched by this tragedy in our thoughts and our prayers.

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

Joey Cummings, a radio broadcaster in American Samoa, interviewed by ABC's "Good Morning America" program, said the tsunami produced a destructive, muddy river that swept away trees, boulders, cars and boats.

"If you have a building and it wasn't made out of concrete, bricks, it doesn't exist any more," he said. "You just have a series of concrete slabs with debris strewn all over the place. It looks like a bomb went off."

Ausegalia Mulipola, assistant chief executive of Samoa's disaster management office, told Reuters that there were reports of bodies covered in the large amounts of sand brought onshore by the waves.

Disaster officials said the death toll in Samoa may reach 100 as rescuers search for bodies on the southern shore of Upolu island. Twenty villages on the island, including Lepa, the home of Samoa's prime minister, were reportedly destroyed.

"Thankfully the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground. But not everyone escaped," said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, adding that two children en route to hospital were swept away.

"Their car was just taken away. I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss," he told reporters on a flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Apia, the capital of Samoa.

The waves also destroyed tourist resorts in the area.

Wendy Booth, owner of the Samoan resort Sea Breeze on Upolu, said she and her husband were almost washed away when the waves destroyed their resort and carried its restaurant out to sea.

"The second wave hit and came up through the floor, pushed out the back door and threw us outside," she told Fairfax Radio Network in Australia, adding that the couples hanged onto each other and a handrail as parts of their resort disintegrated.

New Zealand said there were also serious concerns about the neighbouring island nation of Tonga after a 4m wave hit its northern coast. Tongan officials confirmed seven people were killed, while three were missing late Wednesday.

The two Samoas and Tonga have a combined population of about 400,000 people and rely on a combination of subsistence agriculture, fishing and tourism.

Small tsunamis also reached New Zealand, Hawaii and Japan.

An Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, which killed about 230,000 people in 11 countries, is the worst on record.

Australians with concerns for family or friends in Samoa, American Samoa or Tonga should first try to contact them directly. If they are unable to be contacted or you hold fears for their safety, you can call the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135.

greg) We all hope that survivors are found and help is on it's way.

Quake landslides wiped out four villages

Original Article
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/871182/quake-landslides-wiped-out-four-villages

By Irwan Firdaus And Eric Talmadge

At least four Indonesian villages were obliterated by earthquake-triggered landslides that buried as many as 644 people including a wedding party under mountains of mud and debris, officials say.

The full extent of Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude earthquake was becoming apparent three days later as aid workers and government officials reached remote villages in the hills along Sumatra island's western coast.

Article: Up to 40 Australians missing after quake

If all 644 are confirmed dead - as is likely - the death toll in the disaster would jump to more than 1,300. The government's death toll currently is 715, with most casualties reported from the region's biggest city, Padang, where aid efforts are currently focused.

More than 3,000 people were listed as missing before the news about the obliterated villages emerged on Saturday.

The United Nations said in a report that more than 1.1 million people live in the 10 quake-hit districts. It said 10,000 houses collapsed, 19 public facilities were badly damaged, 50 schools destroyed and more than 80 mosques severely damaged.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis centre, told The Associated Press that the villages of Pulau Aiya, Lubuk Lawe and Jumena in Padang Pariaman district were completely wiped out by the landslides.

He said 400 people were attending a wedding in Pulau Aiya when the quake set off a landslide. In Indonesia's rural areas, weddings are often communal affairs open to the entire village.

"They were sucked 30 metres deep into the earth," Pakaya said. "Even the mosque's minaret, taller than 20 metres, disappeared."

He said about 244 others were buried in Lubuk Lawe and Jumena villages. Only 26 bodies had been extricated, he said.

An AP photographer who flew over Padang Pariaman district in a helicopter saw several landslides in the area.

At a fourth village, Limo Koto Timur, a giant section of a hillside was swept away and the remains of destroyed houses protruded from the mud. The village's population was not immediately available.

The ruins of other tin-roofed homes hung precariously over the edge of a huge crevice torn through rice fields and forest. Roads were gone and palm trees had been uprooted and swept downhill, leaving patches of brown earth where villages once stood.

El-Mostafa Benlamlih, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Indonesia, told the AP that 200 houses were swept away in Pulau Aiya.

The immediate medical needs from the quake are being met, but aid efforts are "still concentrated in Padang area", with outlying areas still short of aid, Benlamlih said.

He said aid agencies will focus on restoring public utilities and sanitation and preventing disease.

Elsewhere, disappointed rescue workers were unable to locate survivors buried under a collapsed hotel in Padang after one sent a mobile phone text message to a relative on Friday saying he and some others were alive.

Frantic rescue efforts came to nothing on Saturday as sniffer dogs failed to detect life.

After several hours of digging through blocks of concrete, steel and bricks, rescue workers gave up. Padang police chief Colonel Boy Rafli Amar told reporters: "So far rescuers have found nothing."

Hidehiro Murase, head of a Japanese search dog team, said its search had been fruitless.

"We did an extensive search this morning, but there were no signs of life. Our dogs are trained to smell for living people, not the dead, and they didn't sense anything," he told the AP.

The UN said there are sufficient fuel stocks in the area for four days, but the road to the depot is cut off by landslides and shortages have inflated petrol prices six-fold.

Areas with huge levels of damage to infrastructure are in need of basic food and tents for temporary shelter, it said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla estimated that the quake damaged about 17 per cent of buildings in the worst-hit areas.

He said the recovery operation will cost at least $US400 million ($A460 million).

Military and commercial planes have shuttled in tonnes of emergency supplies.

Millions of dollars in aid and financial assistance has come from Australia, Britain, China, Denmark, the European Union, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States, Indonesian officials said.

Wednesday's quake originated on the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.