Are you in Samoa?
Send us your stories, photos and video
Follow us on Twitter
Residents and visitors in Samoa describe the terror of knowing what would be next after a massive quake rocked the tiny island nation:
NOTHING LEFT
Graeme Ansell, a New Zealander who was at the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale, on Samoa, said it had been levelled by the wave. "It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," he told a New Zealand radio station from a hill near 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."
'WE MANAGED TO HANG ON'
Wendy Booth said her Sea Breeze resort, on the southeast coast of Upolu, had been destroyed.
"The second wave hit and came up through the floor, pushed out the back door and threw us outside," she told an Australian radio network.
"We managed to hang onto a handrail. My husband and I just hung onto 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."
'THEN WE SAW THE SEA RISING'
Samoan schoolgirl Sulu Bentley was on her way to class in Leauvaa, 15 minutes from Apia, when the tsunami struck.
"The others were shouting 'tsunami!' but we thought it's a joke but then when we went down [the hill to the markets] on the bus the police were shouting at us to go to the mountains," she told a Sydney newspaper.
"And then we saw ... the sea level was high, was rising. We ran to the mountains where the other people are running.
"There are no houses. Clothes and stuff is all everywhere."
LITTLE TIME TO REACT
Tasi Uesele said the first wave hit so quickly after the tremor that locals had little time to react.
"The waves came in about five minutes after the first tremor died. It was really fast," she said.
"According to evacuation plans a wave will hit after 15 minutes ... so people were taken by surprise."
She said the tremor shook her house and smashed her belongings.
Because her home was on high ground outside Apia, the "whole extended family" headed there for safety when the tsunami struck.
WITNESS TO DESTRUCTION
Daniela Brussani, the owner of Apia's Iliili Resort, fled with her business partner by car to a hill, where they watched the destruction on Upolu take place.
"I saw the big wave arrive - a big wave - six or seven metres."
Ms Brussani said her resort was now under two metres of water.
THE SEA DISAPPEARED
Mataio, who also owns a resort, said the sea disappeared before his eyes before the tsunami swelled and hit.
He said after the earthquake struck yesterday morning he sat down to gather his thoughts but then had only five minutes to pack a bag and run for safety.
Mataio said if he did not have a car, he would not be alive now.
'WE RAN FOR THE HILLS'
New Zealander Tony Manson saw the tsunami arrive "at terrific speed and force" off the coast of Samoa.
"We were on the beach waiting for breakfast and felt the shake," he told TVNZ.
"Within a minute, we saw the water on the outside of the lagoon disappear ... at that point we just ran for the hills.
"There was the enormous rumble of the wave which I would guess was at most a couple of metres but came at terrific speed and force."
Mr Manson said the wave took about 30 seconds to get from the beach to the hills, "before it came through and devastated the village".
"Everyone's lost everything and a lot of people have lost family members," he said.
"Fortunately the village children were in school, which is up on the hill so many of their lives were spared."
HELL ON EARTH
Ray Hunt, an Australian working in Apia, described scenes like "hell on earth".
"It's just total chaos at the hospital," he told the Age newspaper.
"Bodies coming in from all over the place. Doctors trying to tend the injured.
"We really have no idea how many people have been killed. They are still digging bodies out of the wreckage of the buildings that have fallen down.
"This is supposed to be paradise. But I can tell you, it's not paradise. It's hell on earth."
POWER TO SPLIT THE EARTH
Salamo Laumoli, director of Health Services of American Samoa, said the earthquake was so powerful he felt as though the earth might split.
"It was the largest earthquake I have ever felt," she told CNN.
The tsunami wave hit right in the middle of the harbour of Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, resident Cinta Brown said.
She was in a carpark when the earthquake struck, shaking her vehicle.
"You could hear the rattling of the metal" of a large chain link fence around the lot, Ms Brown said.
"It shakes you because you know something else is coming."
NINE RELATIVES GONE
A Samoan man has told of the loss of nine members of his family in the tsunami and quake.
"My family own the Taufua Beach Fales and we have confirmation that nine members of our family have perished, four of them children and many more missing.
"The tourists haven't been accounted for either," he told the ABC News website.
"My grandfather Taufua, who the beach fales are named after, also perished. There are reports from family that a lot of elderly and children are missing."
ROAD CUT IN HALF
Lynne Coles, an Australian in American Samoa, said two of her cousins were killed when a road they were travelling on was destroyed by the initial 8.3 magnitude earthquake.
"They were driving on the road. As the earthquake erupted the road was cut in half ... and the people were seen being thrown off the car as the earthquake erupted," she said.
'I COULD SEE THE CORAL REEF'
Dave Fuimaono, an airport supervisor in Pago Pago, said the sea receded so much after the quake that he could see coral reefs in the water.
Mr Fuimaono said that the airport's runways are flooded with water.
"It was pretty strong shaking and rattling at the house and then right after the earthquake I can see all the coral on the ocean side showing," he said.
"There were some rocks and there's corals that usually we don't see but after the earthquake it seems that all the water went outward."
ANXIOUS WAIT FOR NEWS
Samoan Sione Taotua, who lives in in New South Wales, has been trying to reach family members in Samoa after yesterday morning's earthquake.
"I tried to contact my wife and kid but there's no answer. It seems that the line is not connected," he told ABC News Online.
"I have a sister working for the ministry on the southern side of Upolu. I tried to contact her and it was the same thing - the lines aren't connected."
GUESTS TOO SCARED TO EVACUATE
Fred Crichton, a security guard at Aggie Grey's hotel in the centre of Apia, had to stay with about a dozen guests who refused to evacuate.
"We were trying to calm them down," he said.
But about 190 staff and 60 guests had fled to higher ground on nearby Mt Vaea, he said.
Mr Crichton was waiting to hear more news and had only been told the east side of the island was badly damaged. Guests returned to the hotel just after midday, when TV and radio broadcasts told them it was safe to do so.
ON STANDBY FOR THE WOUNDED
Sina Faaiuga, at the Ministry of Health in Apia, was on standby with several other health planners to help at hospitals if needed.
She said extra doctors and nurses had been sent to tend to tsunami victims at district hospitals around the island.
Unconfirmed reports suggested at least 100 people were dead, she said.
"Mostly children and elderly because they couldn't get away quick enough."
This was particularly sad as next Sunday was "White Sunday" - celebrating the importance of children as future leaders, she said.
Ms Faaiuga said the public was being told to go to evacuation points if the tide went right out, as that signalled a tsunami.
Samoans had done several tsunami drills in the past couple of years, but unfortunately some had not heard the warnings.
'IT'S A MESS OVER THERE'
At the American Red Cross disaster care office near the American Samoa Airport, Tuuga Tinoisamoa was preparing to go to the eastern side of the island. She said the main route was badly damaged by flooding, but her team would try to get through.
"It's a mess over there. What I heard from other people was that the other side was a total loss."
She and her co-workers were looking for four people who were missing from the village of Leone. They were also getting food and drink to volunteers.
Ms Tinoisamoa said the eastern power plant was flooded, so that half of the island was without electricity.
'IT JUST SHOOK AND SHOOK AND SHOOK'
Aucklanders John and Grace Winther, who were staying at Hotel Millenia in Apia, awoke to a massive earthquake about 6.30am.
"It just shook something wicked ... I have never experienced anything like it," Mr Winther said. "It just shook and shook and shook."
The couple got up and were surprised to see people eating breakfast as per normal. But then the sirens went. Rushing to their room to shower, they came back out to a deserted hotel.
Cars were racing up and down the road out front, but no one would stop for the couple, including police.
Eventually a patrol car driven by the assistant commissioner pulled over.
He drove the Winthers up to an evacuation point at St Joseph's School on the hill.
"There were thousands of kids and lots of locals, who were all quite casual about the whole thing."
About 11.15am the warden told them they could return to the hotel, but locals were not allowed until officially told to do so.
'THE KIDS WOKE UP AND STARTED FREAKING OUT'
Wellingtonian Juli Clausen was asleep in a rented house in Apia with her husband and three young daughters when the quake hit.
"I felt the roll, it didn't feel like it was going to stop any time soon so I jumped out of bed and stood under a doorway. Then the kids woke up and started freaking out. It was like a giant had picked up the house and was just shaking us around."
Mrs Clausen, a Samoan who is Helen Clark's former press secretary and now a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Rugby Union, said sirens then began wailing and the family started gathering all their belongings.
They jumped in their rental car and "followed traffic" to higher ground.
"One of the things I did see was young kids who were pushing elderly people in wheelchairs up the hill - not everyone has a car - trying to get to higher ground," Mrs Clausen said. "We've been watching local TV and there are awful pictures of dead babies wrapped in lavalava. It's just devastating."
SIRENS WAILING HOURS AFTER QUAKE
Kisa Kupa, a New Zealand citizen now living in Samoa, said warning sirens were still wailing across the island hours after the earthquake and tsunami struck.
"The house was shaking like anything and objects dropping and smashing on the floor. We are still feeling tremors every now and then so not sure what that means."
Mrs Kupa, who was raised in Henderson, said the local radio station was "hot" with callers phoning about the disaster. Reporters out at villages were finding it hard to report back to listeners.
"Sounds like some tourists are missing. A boy in Saleapaga was found buried with his school uniform on - the reporter can't [speak] properly because he's obviously affected by the sight."
- NZ HERALD STAFF
How you can help
Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Deposits can be made at at any Westpac branch. All the money raised will go to the Samoan Government
Red Cross
- Make a secure online donation at www.redcross.org.nz
- Send cheques to the Samoan Red Cross Fund, PO Box 12140, Thorndon, Wellington 6144
- Call 0900 31 100 to make an automatic $20 donation
- Make a donation at any NZ Red Cross office
ANZ bank
Make a donation at any ANZ bank branch, or donate directly to the ANZ appeal account: 01 1839 0143546 00
