This photo was taken on September 29, 2009 after an 8.0-magnitude quake and tsunami struck in the early morning offshore shows damage and debris in Pago Pago, on American Samoa. (AFP image)
Towering tsunamis churned up by a huge earthquake slammed into the Samoan islands, killing at least 113 people as they wiped out entire villages and flattened tourist resorts.
Monster waves that witnesses and officials said measured between three and 7.5 metres high pounded the remote Pacific islands of Samoa and Western Samoa after an 8.0-magnitude undersea quake struck on early Wednesday morning.
While the quake toppled buildings and sent thousands fleeing to high ground as the tsunami approached, many others were hit by the walls of water that swept people and cars out to sea and obliterated coastal settlements.
US President Barack Obama called the incident in the outlying US territory of American Samoa a "major disaster" and vowed "aggressive" action to help survivors.
"I am closely monitoring these tragic events, and have declared a major disaster for American Samoa, which will provide the tools necessary for a full, swift and aggressive response," he said.
Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said he was "shocked beyond belief."
"So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told the Australian news agency AAP. "I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."
The tsunamis swept across the Pacific, battering Samoa where hospital workers said it killed at least 84 people, American Samoa where it felled 22, and Tonga, where at least seven people died.